1,\5r 


V 

THE 


FIRST  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA, 


AND  ITS  EARLY  CIVILIZATION, 


TRANSLATED  AM)  ENLARGED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF 
DR.  F.  KRUGER, 

BY 

W.    L.    WAGENER, 

PROFESSOR    OF   LATIN    AND    GERMAN    IN    PACKKE    COLLEGIATE 
INSTITUTE,     BROOKLYN. 


"Nesci*e  antem,  quid  antequam  natus  sis  accident  id  est,  semper  csso 
pnerum." — CICKEO  (Orator). 


NEW  YOKK : 

SHELDON    &    COMPANY, 

335  BROADWAY,  COR.  WORTH  ST. 

1863. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863,  by 
W.    L.    WAGENEK, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  tho 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


TO 

THE    TRUSTEES 

OP 
PACKER  COLLEGIATE   INSTITUTE,  BROOKLYN, 

THIS     LITTLE-WORK 
IS   MOST    RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED    AS   A 

TOKEN    OF  ESTEEM 
BY  THB 

AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


THERE  appeared  several  years  ago,  in  the  city; 
of  Dresden,  two  Archaeological  Essays  in  a  Ger 
man  newspaper  of  the  highest  literary  and  scien 
tific  character,  written  by  Dr.  F.  Kruger,  and  re- 
published  in  1858  in  the  well-known  New  York 
Belletristic  Journal. 

As  there  does  not  exist  a  reproduction  of  them 
in  the  English  language,  I  have  endeavored  to 
supply  the  deficiency.  To  the  material  contained 
therein  large  additions — the  results  of  my  own 
researches  —  have  been  made.  My  grateful  ac 
knowledgments  are  due  to  a  lady  of  Brooklyn  for 
kindly  revising  the  manuscript. 

That  this  little  work  may  meet  with  a  favorable 
reception  from  the  classical  reader,  is  the  earnest 
wish  of  the  writer. 


CONTENTS. 


ESSAY    I. 

PAGH 

THE  FIRST  DISCOTEEY  OP  AMERICA.  .  11 


ESSAY    II. 

THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OP  ANCDSNT  AMERICAN 
AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE 67 


ESSAY    I, 


THE  FIRST  DISCOVERT  OF  AMERICA. 


I. 

THE  FIRST  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA. 

THERE  are,  as  is  well  known,  two  opinions 
entertained  by  literary  men  concerning  the 
origin  of  the  Aborigines  of  this  country ;  the 
one,  that  they  emigrated  from  the  old  conti 
nent,  the  other,  that  they  originated  in 
America.  The  former  has  been  generally 
received  as  the  true  one,  and  especially  re 
lied  upon  by  religious  writers ;  the  latter 
belongs  only  to  modern  times.  We  consider 
the  former  the  only  rational  one.  The  old 
and  the  new  continents  are  so  near  each  other, 
separated  only  by  Behring's  Straits,  that  the 
necessity  of  an  independent  creation  of  a  race 
on  this  continent  does  not  exist.  And  this  is 
more  distinctly  visible  when  we  take  into 
consideration  the  fact  that  the  animal  and 


12  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

vegetable  productions  are  undeniably  Amer 
ican  in  their  origin,  until  we  ascend  the  scale 
to  human  beings,  we  find  the  latter  bearing 
a  close  resemblance  to  the  wild  and  roving 
tribes  of  the  old  world.  The  inferior  animals, 
even  those  which  most  nearly  approach  hu 
manity — the  apes — are  different  from  the 
same  species  in  the  old  world.  Apes  differ 
in  the  number  and  structure  of  the  teeth, 
which  form  a  significant  and  striking  zoolog 
ical  mark.  In  all  the  American  varieties  we 
find  thirty-six  teeth,  both  in  living  specimens 
and  in  the  remains  of  those  of  primitive  ages, 
while  on  the  old  continent  they  have  but 
thirty-two,  the  same  number  that  is  found  in 
human  beings.  An  immigration  by  way  of 
Behring's  Straits  is  not  only  natural  in  itself, 
but  has  received  the  corroboration  of  strong 
probability  by  ethnographical  studies  and 
Indian  legends.  The  Esquimaux,  who  live 
on  both  «ides  of  the  straits  from  Kamtschatka 
to  Greenland,  and  carry  on  a  considerable 
commerce  between  the  two  countries,  furnish 


OF   AMERICA.  13 

another  significant  fact.  There  is  preserved 
in  the  Dacotah  Indian  tribe,  on  the  Macken 
zie  River,  an  old  tradition  that  their  fore 
fathers  came  across  the  ocean  from  Asia.  The 
Indians  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  have  like 
wise  a  tradition  which  refers  to  an  origin 
from  the  north-west. 

Important  in  this  connection  is  the  well- 
known  typical  resemblance  between  the  great 
mass  of  American  aborigines  and  the  Mon 
golian  race.  On  account  of  this  resemblance 
some  of  the  most  learned  naturalists  have 
included  both  races  in  one.  The  position 
here  assumed  finds  additional  support  when 
we  examine  the  evidences  of  early  civiliza 
tion  found  throughout  the  whole  continent, 
especially  in  Central  and  South  America. 

The  great  variety  of  languages  in  America, 
as  well  as  in  the  remaining  parts  of  the  world, 
has  raised  the  question  whether  the  emi 
grants  from  Asia  brought  their  language  and 
culture  with  them,  or  whether  they  were 
wholly  barbarous,  and  by  their  own  mental 


14  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

power  were  able  to  bring  themselves  to  that 
state  of  cultivation  in  which  they  were  found 
when  conquered  by  the  Spaniards.  Against 
the  latter  opinion  there  have  been  for  a  long 
period  eminent  objections. 

First  of  all  deserves  to  be  mentioned  the 
opinion  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  the 
prince  of  learned  men,  at  which  he  arrived 
about  sixty  years  ago,  while  engaged  in  sci 
entific  pursuits  in  America,  and  explained  in 
one  of  his  most  interesting  works.*  He  re 
fers  to  the  most  surprising  relations  existing 
between  the  culture  of  Eastern  Asia  and  an 
cient  America,  especially  seen  in  the  arrange 
ment  of  the  calendar,  which  could  not  possi 
bly  depend  on  mere  casualty,  and  judges  that 
there  must  have  been  an  emigration  from 
Japan  and  Eastern  Asia  generally.  This 
opinion  is  considered  the  more  tenable  one 
because  it  entirely  agrees  with  the  above- 
mentioned  typical  affinity  between  the  Amer- 

*  Vues  des  Cordill^res  et  Monumens  des  Peuples  indigenes  de 
1'Amerique  (Paris,  1810). 


OP   AMERICA.  15 

lean  aborigines  and  the  inhabitants  of  East 
ern  Asia. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  five  decades,  how 
ever,  there  appears  a  victorious  opinion  in 
historical  science — i.  e.,  of  a  self-creation  of 
culture  from  the  nation's  own  mind,  which, 
however,  we  consider  exaggerated. 

There  was  found  in  America  a  wide  differ 
ence  in  the  degrees  of  culture  which  charac 
terized  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  a  portion 
of  whom  were  wild,  rude,  and  barbarous, 
without  knowledge  of  law  or  form  of  gov 
ernment,  while  others  were  more  mild  in 
character,  reproducing  somewhat  the  condi 
tions  of  pastoral  life  in  the  old  Country,  or 
of  that  transition  state  from  the  pastoral  to 
the  agricultural  life.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  the  ancient  Mexicans  had  no  knowl 
edge  of  domestic  animals. 

It  is  most  improbable  that  the  ancient 
Americans  raised  themselves  by  their  own 
power  from  the  entirely  rude  condition  of 
wild  Indians  to  such  a  high  degree  of  culture, 


16  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

Accordingly,  therefore,  'the  opinion  of  Hum- 
boldt  is  to  be -retained  as  of  value,  and  in 
deed  we  see  no  reason  why  we  should  con 
tradict  its  important  arguments. 

The  mode  of  civilization  in  America  was, 
however,  so  varied,  that  the  adoption  of  the 
theory  of  an  origin  from  but  one  region  is 
entirely  unnecessary.  There  exists,  also, 
among  the  inhabitants  a  typical  contrast, 
which  renders  a  scientific  solution  necessary. 

Besides  the  resemblance  to  the  Mongolian 
race,  which  is  considerable,  there  exists,  ac 
cording  to  the  observation  of  people  who 
have  resided  for  a  long  time  in  the  northern 
part  of  South  America,  but  a  slight  difference 
between  the  immigrated  Chinese  Coolies  and 
the  native  Indians  in  regard  to  their  physi 
ognomy  and  structure  of  the  body.  So,  also, 
there  appears  in  the  once  highly-cultivated 
Central  American  a  type  in  its  purity  quite 
contrary  to  the  Mongolian,  which  learned 
men,  who  observed  it  in  that  part  of  the  con 
tinent,  have  pronounced  u  Semitic."  To  this 


OF   AMERICA.  17 

Semitic  race  belonged  also  the  very  ancient 
people  of  Babylonia,  which  possessed  the 
whole  plain  of  Middle  Asia.  Their  language 
was  spoken  in  many  dialects  on  that  side  of 
the  Halys  River  (now  called  Kisil-Irmark) 
on  the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  prevail 
ing  from  the  Tigris  as  far  as  the  Caucasian 
Mountains  and  the  southern  point  of  Arabia. 
The  Phoenicians,  as  well  as  their  Carthaginian 
descendants,  belonged  to  this  Semitic  race. 

This  observation  caused  an  opinion  to  cir 
culate,  in  itself  childlike,  referring  to  a 
Judaical  origin  of  the  Indians.  This  opinion 
prevails  among  the  North  American  people, 
and,  according  to  the  reports  of  Scherzer, 
among  the  cultivated  inhabitants  of  Central 
America  and  Mexico.  It  is  not  only  one  of 
the  most  important  dogmas  of  the  Mormon 
religion,  but  even  English  scholars  used  much 
diligence  and  sagacity  to  make  it  appear 
that  the  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel  arrived  in 
America  in  some  natural  manner,  and  there 
became  the  fathers  of  the  Indians. 


18  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

While  we  intend  to  solve  this  ethnographi 
cal  problem,  we  pronounce  it  from  the  begin 
ning  as  our  opinion  that,  as  well  in  early 
antiquity  as  since  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  offered  the  way  of  communi 
cation  which  made  possible  a  mingling  of 
both  systems  of  culture  of  the  old  and  new 
continents.  This  opinion  is  not  at  all  new ; 
but  as  its  former  defenders  cited  only  a  few 
points  in  their  arguments,  they  did  not  suc 
ceed  in  giving  to  them  sufficient  strength. 

As  we  intend  to  investigate  this  question 
thoroughly,  we  will  undertake  a  new  com 
parison  of  both  the  witnesses  of  the  ancients 
concerning  a  large  continent  beyond  the  At 
lantic  Ocean,  and  also  the  mutual  accordance 
of  the  two  continents  in  religion  and  cul 
ture — finally,  the  traditions  of  the  American 
aborigines,  and  we  trust  to  be  able  to  adduce 
in  favor  of  our  opinion  arguments  not  only 
new  but  by  their  interior  harmony  convinc 
ing  also.  We  commence  with  the  witnesses 
of  the  ancients. 


OP  AMERICA.  19 

< 

The  opinion  that  large  masses  of  land  are 
hidden  in  the  Western  Ocean,  was  so  often 
pronounced  by  the  authors  of  antiquity,  that 
in  the  days  of  reviving  literature  the  minds 
of  the  first  discoverers  were  most  actively 
incited  and  determined.  Especially  by  the 
saying  of  Seneca  in  his  tragedy  u  Medea:" 

"  Late  centuries  will  appear, 
When  the  ocean's  vails  will  lift 
To  open  a  vast  country. 
New  worlds  will  unvail  Thethys. 
Thule  will  not  remain  the  earth's  boundary." 

Thethys  is  the  poetical  name  for  "the 
Atlantic  Ocean,"  and  Thule  for  tl  Iceland." 
The  old  Romans  called  it  also  "Ultima 
Thule,"  i.  e.  "  the  last,  the  remotest  Thule." 

Alexander  von  Humboldt  proved  this  in 
fluence  in  the  most  unequivocal  way,  and 
analyzed  from  this  point  of  view  many 
ancient  judgments. 

While  we  are  giving  this  point  of  view  a 
similar  examination,  we  must  distinguish  first 
of  all  between  such  passages  as,  relying  upon 
the  theory  of  the  spherical  form  of  the  earth, 


20  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

declare  only  a  scientific  conviction,  and  those 
which  contain  a  distinct  tradition  of  a  dis 
covery  by  the  maritime  nations.  Such  re 
ports  can,  of  course,  have  the  authority  of 
real  traditions  only  when  they 

Firstly,  show  geographical  communica 
tions  which  agree  with  the  real  condition  of 
the  new  world  ;  and 

Secondly,  if  they  in  themselves  contain 
sufficient  historical  probability. 

For  such  witnesses  we  are  indebted  to  the 
Greek  authors,  Plutarch,  Diodorus  Siculus, 
and  Aristotle.  It  shall  be  our  endeavor  to 
show  how  far  they  can  claim  scientific  con 
sideration. 

We  commence  with  a  passage  from  Plu 
tarch,  in  his  treatise,  "  Be  Facie  in  Orbe 
Lunae,"  which  is  very  important,  since  it 
seems  to  contain  an  unequivocal  description 
of  America. 

Plutarch  is  citing  a  Sylla  speaking  in  the 
following  manner : 


OF   AMERICA.  21 

1.  "When  there  is  no  objection  to  it  I 
begin  Homeric : 

"An  island  is  lying  far  Ogygia  (far  in  the 
ocean),  five  days'  voyage  from  Britain,  as 
one  sails  westward. 

2.  "  Three  others  stand  at  equal  distances 
from  each  other,  and  lie  very  far  toward  the 
hot  sunset. 

3.  u  On  one  of  them,  the  barbarians  have 
the  fable,  Chronos  was  once  confined,  having 
his  son  as  watchman.     He  now  lives  beyond 
those  islands  and  the  ocean,  which  is  called 
c  Chronic  Ocean.' 

4.  "  The  vast  continent,  which  is  surrounded 
by  the  large  ocean,  lies  not  far  from  the 
island — from  Ogygia  about  5,000  stadia  (one 
stadium  equal  to  60  6  J  English  feet).     Only 
rowing  vessels  are  used  to  approach  it,  for 
the  ocean  is  penetrable  with  difficulty,  and 
muddy,  on  account  of  the  continent  washing 
down  slime,  so  that  the  ocean  is  sluggish  and 
earthy,  fo* which  reason  one  imagines  it  as 
dense. 


22  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

5.  u  On    the    continent   Hellenians    live 
around  the  bay,  which  is  not  smaller  than 
the  c  Palus  Maeotis '  (now  called  the  Sea  of 
Azof).     Those    people  .call    and    consider 
themselves   '  Continentals  ;'    the  inhabitants 
of  our  country,  however,  since  it  is  encircled 
by  the  ocean,  they  call  l  Islanders.' 

6.  "They  believe  the  attendants  of  Her 
cules  had  mixed  themselves  with  the  people 
of   Chronos,   and  having  been  left  behind, 
had  again  inflamed,  invigorated  and  enlarged 
the  Greek  character,  which  was  almost  ex 
pired — well-nigh  extinguished  by  barbarian 
language,    laws,    and    manners    of    living. 
Therefore  Hercules  has  the  greatest  honors, 
but  Chronos  the  next  ones. 

7.  "  When  the  constellation  of  Chronos, 
which  the  Hellenians  call  the  fire  constella 
tion,  they,  however,  c  Nycturos,'  enters  the 
Taurus,  which  happens  every  thirty  years, 
they  send  on  a  voyage  persons  previously 
chosen  by  lot,  who  have  been  preparing  them 
selves  for  a  long  time  for  this  sacrifice  and 


OF   AMERICA.  23 

journey.  The  vessels,  servants,  and  equip 
ments  are  the  same  as  if  they  were  going  to 
cross  a  vast  ocean  with  the  oar,  and  had  re 
solved  to  remain  abroad  a  long  time. 

8.  u  Those  who  have  departed  have  now  a 
different  destiny;  those  who  are  spared  by 
the  ocean,  land  at  first  at  the  foremost  islands 
inhabited  by  Hellenians,  where,  for  thirty 
days,  the  sun  disappears  less  than  one  hour, 
and  the  night  brings  only  slight  darkness,  as 
if  surrounded  with  twilight. 

9.  "After  a  sojourn  of  ninety  days,  and 
having  been  treated  honorably  and  friendly, 
they  are  conveyed  home  again  by  the  winds, 
after  having  been  considered  and  announced 
as   c  saints.'     No   other    people    live    there 
besides    themselves    and    those  who  were 
before  sent  thither.     For  those  who   have 
served  out  the  thirty  years  to  the  god  are 
allowed  to   sail  homeward.      The  greatest 
part  of  them  prefer  to  remain,  some  of  them 
because  they  are  acclimated,  others  because 
they  are  relieved  from  labor  and  occupation, 


24  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

and  every  thing  exists  in  abundance  for 
immolations,  choragi,  and  for  engaging  in 
sciences  or  in  philosophy. 

10.  "For  the    island   is  worthy  to    be 
admired  for  the  beauty  of  its  natural  scenery 
and  the  mildness  of  the  encircling  breeze. 
To  some  of  the  voyagers  the  tutelary  god 
becomes  an  impediment.     When  they  are 
about  to  depart,  he  shows  himself  to  them 
and  to  their  relatives  and  friends,  for  many 
of  them,  not  only  by  dreams  and  omens,  but 
also  publicly,  by  vision  and  voice,  have  in 
tercourse  with  the  spirits. 

11.  "  In  deep  cavities  slumbers  Chronos 
on  the  godlike  rocks,  watched  because  Zeus 
has  made  the  sleep  like  a  fetter  upon  him. 
Over  the  top  of  the  rock  birds  flutter,  bearing 
to  him  in  their  bills  l  ambrosia.'     The  whole 
island  is  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  it. 

12.  u  Those  are  spirits  waiting  upon  Chro 
nos  and  serving  him,  since  they  have  been 
during  his  government  over  mankind   and 
gods  his  joys.    Many  things  they  divine  from 


OF   AMERICA.  25 

their  own  prophetic  inspiration,  the  subli- 
mest,  however,  they  announce  as  dreams  of 
Chronos. 

13.  "  For  whatever  Zeus  foresees  appears 
to  Chronos  in  a  dream.     When  he  awakes, 
then  rises  his  Titanic  rage  and  the  passions  of 
his  soul,  which  were  oppressed  by  sleep,  so 
his  royal  and  divine  character  appears  again 
pure  and  clear. 

14.  "  After  having  arrived  here,  as  he  said, 
the  guest,  who  served  the  god  at  leisure,  ac 
quired  such  a  knowledge  of  astrology  as  it 
would  be  possible  for  an  astronomical  scholar 
of  the  highest  proficiency,  since  among  other 
philosophical  branches  the   natural  sciences 
were  cultivated. 

15.  "He  departed  after  thirty  years  had 
passed  away,  and  the  successors  had  arrived 
from  home  with  the  desire  to  see  the  large 
island,  as  our  continent  is  said  to  be  called ; 
having  been  dismissed  by  his  friends  without 
much  baggage,  but  with  a  strong  traveling 
provision  of  golden  goblets,  i.  e.,  wine. 


26  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

16.  u  What  occurred  to   him  now,   how 
many  people  he  met,  what  he  thought  of  the 
holy  sciences,  into  how  many  mysteries  he 
was  initiated,  and  with  what  else  he  became 
acquainted,  can  not  be  related  in  one  day ; 
neither  can  that  which  entered  into  the  par 
ticulars  of  his  recollection.     What,  however, 
concerns  the  present  subject  you  shall  hear. 

17.  u  In  Carthage  he   spent   the  longest 
time,  and  found  some  parchment  rolls  buried 
among  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city,  for  a 
long  time  concealed  in  the  earth.     He  re 
commended  me  to  entertain  a  distinguished 
veneration  for  those  gods  appearing  in  the 
universe,  for  instance,  '  Selene'  (the  Greek 
name  for  'moon'),  since  she  has  the  greatest 
right  of  our  life."   Those  are  the  passages  of 
Plutarch. 

According  to  our  promise  we  will  submit 
them  point  after  point  to  an  examination, 
and  also  compare  the  traditions  of  the  Mexi 
cans  with  many  of  the  intimations  contained 
therein. 


OF   AMERICA.  27 

In  the  beginning  it  is  said:  u  Ogygia  lies 
toward  the  west  from  Britain,  three  other 
islands  in  front  of  it  very  far  toward  the  hot 
sun."  The  last  passage  gives  us  a  hint  where 
we  must  look  for  those  islands — evidently  in 
the  tropical  Central  America.  Here,  among 
many  islands,  four  are  especially  observable, 
which  in  their  magnitude  and  beauty  excel 
all  the  others,  i.  e.,  Cuba,  Jamaica,  Hayti, 
and  Porto  Rico.  !  They  are  from  each  other 
almost  equidistant,  just  as  Plutarch  reports. 
The  five  days'  voyage  is  an  error  upon  which 
nobody  will  lay  any  stress  who  is  acquainted 
with  and  has  examined  the  statements  which 
Greek  geographers  make  in  regard  to  dis 
tances.  As  for  instance,  Onesicrotos,  in  giv 
ing  the  distance  of  Ceylon  from  the  Indian 
continent,  makes  it  twenty  days'  voyage,  a 
ridiculous  statement  to  us,  since  we  know 
that  the  real  distance  is  thirty-two  English 
miles.  But  as  an  intelligent  man  will  draw 
from  this  a  conclusion  that  the  ancients  knew 
nothing  about  Ceylon,  so  little,  also,  is  the 


28  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

above  five  days'  voyage  a  counterproof 
against  the  acquaintance  of  the  ancients  with 
America.  According  to  paragraph  third, 
Chronos  was  confined  by  Zeus  on  one  of  the 
islands.  As  is  known,  there  was  in  all  anti 
quity,  and  also  in  America,  a  common  belief 
that  earthquakes  are  generated  by  giants  and 
gods  who  have  been  confined  by  other  supe 
rior  beings  and  buried  under  mountains.  So 
Zeus  is  said  to  -have  heaped  Etna  upon  the 
Titans ;  so  was  the  Persian  Zobac  fettered  by 
Feridun  under  the  Demawend ;  so  the  Ger 
man  Loce  conquered  and  tied  in  a  cavern  of 
the  interior  of  the  earth  by  the  power  of  the 
twelve  Asen  (deities  of  both  sexes).  We 
have,  therefore,  in  the  above  passages  noth 
ing  but  an  allegorical  rendering  of  the  sen 
tence  :  "  One  of  these  islands  is  of  a  volcanic 
character,  exposed  to  earthquakes  and  erup 
tions."  These  latter,  are  common,  as  is 
known,  in  the  whole  of  Central  America. 
Active  volcanoes  exist,  especially  on  the 
Caribbean  Islands,  in  abundance,  and  various 


OF   AMERICA.  29 

hints  in  "  the  writers  of  antiquity  show  us 
that  they  were  never  missed  in  the  four 
islands  mentioned,  where  they  are  yet  to  be 
found. 

Still  more  distinctly,  yes,  as  distinctly  as 
one  can  describe,  is  stated  in  the  fourth  par 
agraph  : 

UA  large  continent  is  here  spoken  of, 
which  is  surrounded  by  a  large  ocean  ;  it  is 
at  a  less  distance  from  the  other  islands,  but 
from  Ogygia  it  is  5,000  stadia.  By  the  mul 
titude  of  streams  which  wash  down  mud  and 
slime  the  ocean  is  rendered  thick  and 
earthy." 

It  is  certainly  impossible  not  to  perceive 
in  this  a  description  of  the  American  conti 
nent.  That  embraces  a  large  archipelago, 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
It  sends  forth  many  rivers — as  the  Mississippi, 
the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  Magdalene  River,  the 
Orinoco,  which  together  are  heaping  up  an 
alluvial  deposit  more  important  than  the  cel 
ebrated  delta  formations  of  the  Nile.  Not 


30  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

only  by  these  alluvions  but  by  many  banks, 
as  that  of  the  Honduras  and  the  large  ones 
of  Bahamas,  is  the  navigation  rendered  diffi 
cult  in  manifold  ways. 

How  exact  altogether  the  whole  descrip 
tions  are  one  can  perceive  by  reading  Voelck- 
er's  "  Book  of  Geography."  There  stands, 
for  instance,  in  the  second  volume  : 

"  The  continual  current  of  the  sea  along 
the  coast  from  the  Peninsula  of  Yucatan  as 
far  as  the  Straits  of  Florida,  heaps  up  great 
masses  of  sand  which  are  increased  by  the 
wash  of  the  rivers  that  flow  into  the  sea.  All 
the  harbors,  therefore,  along  the  eastern 
Mexican  coast  are  utterly  unsafe  and  are 
exposed  to  all  storms." 

Astonishing  indeed  is  the  statement  of  the 
distance  of  Ogygia  from  a  spot  easily  to  be 
recognized  as  upon  this  continent.  Five 
thousand  stadia  are  five  hundred  and  fifty 
English  miles,  or  eight  and  a  half  degrees, 
which  is  exactly  the  distance  of  Cuba  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River.  That 


OF    AMERICA.  31 

this  point  only  can  be  fixed  upon,  and  not 
another,  appears  distinctly  in  consequence  of 
the  mention  of  large  masses  of  stime  washed 
down  and  impeding  greatly  the  navigation, 
by  which  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi  River  is 
to  be  understood.  It  follows  from  this  that 
the  island  which  is  called  by  Plutarch  "  Ogy- 
gia,"  is  one  and  the  same  with  "  Cuba"  of 
our  day,  which  deserves  of  course,  as  it  is  by 
far  the  largest  island  of  Central  America,  to 
be  rendered  especially  prominent. 

In  paragraph  fifth  Plutarch  reports  that 
the  maritime  countries  of  the  continent  are 
inhabited  by  Hellenians  settled  around  a  gulf 
not  smaller  than  the  Sea  of  "  Azof."  With 
out  doubt  this  is  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  on 
whose  coasts  at  the  time  of  Cortez  still  existed 
the  empire  of  the  Aztecs,  who  immigrated 
to  Anahuak  (Mexico)  in  1160,  A.D.,from  the 
unknown  northern  countries  "  Aztlan."  It 
is  well  known  what  a  high  degree  of  culture 
these  people  had  attained  at  that  period. 
The  ancient  scholars  supposed  this  nation  to 


32  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

be  derived  from  the  Toltec  race,  who  proba 
bly  immigrated  in  the  seventh  century,  A.D., 
from  northern  countries,  and  after  having 
conquered  almost  the  whole  of  Central  Amer 
ica  reared  there  many  gigantic  works  of 
architecture.  The  newer  investigations  have 
proved  an  existence  anterior  to  the  Toltec 
culture,  and  doubtless  of  great  age.  The 
Toltec  nation  existed  very  probably  in  Gua 
temala,  Nicaragua,  on  the  Great  Antilles, 
etc.,  until  the  time  of  discovery  and  later  by 
the  name  of  the  uMaja  people."  The  relics 
likewise  of  their  culture  to  be  found  in  the 
territory  of  the  Mississippi  River  are,  ac 
cording  to  certain  marks,  very  old. 

The  statement  of  Plutarch  of  a  nation  al 
ready  highly  cultivated,  and  living  on  that 
gulf  of  the  new  world,  is  in  itself  not  at  all 
improbable.  In  regard  to  the  additional 
clause,  that  the  nation  was  Greek,  it  is  a 
well-known  fact,  that  the  vain  Greeks,  when 
ever  an  unknown  cultivated  nation  was  men 
tioned,  always  thought  at  first  of  themselves. 


OF    AMERtCA.  33 

Their  Bee  otic  Hercules  is  said  to  have  con 
quered  India,  and  even  more. 

Plutarch  proceeds  to  religious  expeditions 
toward  the  north,  to  islands  where  the  sun 
during  thirty  days  disappears  less  than  one 
hour.  The  nights  are  described  as  polar 
nights  with  slight  twilight.  The  whole  state 
ment  is  confused,  as  it  could  hardly  fail  to 
be,  since  Plutarch  speaks  of  that  of  which  he 
has  not  had  the  least  observation.  After 
ward  he  reverts  to  the  island  "  Chronos," 
picturing  it  as  a  genuine  paradise  (and  what 
glowing  impression  the  Antilles  made  upon 
the  Spaniards!)  Wonderful  are  the  natural 
characteristics  of  the  island;  the  mildness 
of  the  breeze,  the  brilliant  birds,  sweet 
aromatics ;  nothing,  indeed,  is  forgotten  which 
a  ravished  describer  of  travels  would  relate 
concerning  the  charms  of  tropical  countries. 
Mingled  with  this  there  is  much  of  mythol 
ogy,  which,  however,  is  spoken  of  in  Mexi 
can  legends.  Plutarch  introduces  a  native 

of  America  who,  animated  by  a  desire  to  see 
2* 


34  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

the  large  island  (as  Plutarch's  Americans 
called  the  eastern  continent),  had  sailed  with 
a  great  store  of  golden  goblets,  i.  e.,  wine, 
toward  the  east,  and  had  landed  in  Carthage, 
where  he  staid  for  a  long  time.  That  an 
American  native  could,  at  Plutarch's  day, 
arrive  in  Carthage  by  way  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  is  so  little  conformable  to  our  preju 
dices,  that  it  appears  quite  ridiculous.  Nev 
ertheless,  when  we  candidly  contemplate  the 
relation  of  Plutarch  we  find  nothing  which  is 
absolutely  untrue.  Among  all  the  deities  of 
the  universe  he  makes  his  guest  pay  venera 
tion  to  the  goddess  of  the  moon.  Through 
out  ancient  America  the  moon  was  highly 
prominent  above  all  others.  It  is  remarka 
ble  that  Carthage  is  also  mentioned  in  con 
nection  with  two  other  statements  about  a 
large  country  lying  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  first  of  these  references  is  to  be  found 
in  the  author  Diodorus  Siculus.  In  the  nine 
teenth  and  twentieth  chapters  of  the  fifth 
book  he  says:  "  After  describing  the  islands 


OF    AMERICA.  35 

within  the  columns  of  Hercules,  we  pass  to 
those  in  the  ocean.  Opposite  to  Africa 
lies  an  island,  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean, 
which  on  account  of  its  magnitude  is 
worthy  to  be  mentioned.  It  is  several 
days'  voyage  distant  from  Africa,  has  a 
fertile  soil,  many  mountains,  and  not  a  few 
plains  unexcelled  in  their  beauty.  It  is 
watered  by  navigable  rivers,  possesses  many 
paradises  planted  with  various  kinds  of  trees, 
and  also  gardens  in  abundance,  intersected 
by  sweet  streams.  There  are  to  be  found 
farms  adorned  with  artistic  buildings,  and 
in  the  gardens  are  cottages,  in  which  the 
inhabitants  spend  the  hot  season  of  the  year. 
The  hilly  country  has  thick  and  extensive 
forests  and  various  fruit-trees,  and  the  valleys 
between  the  mountains  offer  refreshing  and 
copious  fountains.  The  chase  is  rich  in 
every  kind  of  game,  and  therefore  the  in 
habitants  are  not  in  want  of  any  thing  which 
may  contribute  to  revels  and  pomp.  The 
sea,  which  washes  the  shores  is  crowded  with 


36  THE   FIKST   DISCOVERY 

fish,  like  in  character  to  those  of  the  ocean, 
which  also  contains  them  in  abundance.  A 
multitude  of  hard-rinded  and  other  fruits 
are  to  be  had  through  the  greater  part  of 
the  year.  Indeed  it  appears,  on  account  of 
the  great  abundance  of  its  charms,  as  if 
it  were  the  sojourn  of  gods  and  not  of  human 
beings." 

These  and  the  following  passages  are  so 
precise,  that  they  can  not  be  called  either 
mythic  or  trite.  The  question  reduces  itself 
to  this,  whether  the  island  of  Diodorus  be 
America,  or  whether  it  be  one  of  the  Cana 
ries  or  Azores.  The  latter  opinion  meets 
with  decided  objections.  In  the  first  place 
Diodorus  calls  it  considerably  large,  and  the 
Azores  and  Canaries  are  but  small.  Dio 
dorus  attributes  -to  the  island  navigable 
rivers,  while  on  the  Azores  there  are  only 
brooks.  The  Canaries,  on  account  of  their 
well-known  aridity,  still  less  permit  this 
interpretation.  Besides,  the*  island  of  Dio 
dorus  has  very  extensive  plains,  and  the 


OF   AMERICA.  37 

islands  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  are — as  is  well- 
known — without  exception  mere  peaks  of 
submarine  mountains.  In  every  respect  the 
description  of  Diodorus  agrees  with  that  one 
of  Plutarch  of  the  Island  "  Ogygia."  The 
statement  of  both  authors  respecting  the 
distance  from  Africa  refers  to  the  relations 
of  that  far  Western  country  with  the  neigh 
boring  cluster  of  islands,  of  which  the  Cana 
ries  were  certainly  known  in  remote  antiquity. 
The  coincidence  between  Plutarch  and  Dio 
dorus  nearly  confines  the  interpretation  to 
the  largest  island  of  Central  America. 

Cuba  has  a  hundred  and  fifty  running 
streams,  among  which  Sagua  Grande  and 
Rio  Cauto  are  in  fact  navigable.  The  greater 
part  of  the  surface  of  the  country  consists 
of  mountains,  which  rise  to  the  altitude  of 
8,400  feet.  A  not  less  noticeable  part  ex 
tends  itself  in  plains  especially  in  those  river 
valleys  near  the  ocean.  The  condition  of 
that  "Western  country  as  here  described  cor 
responds  sufficiently  well  with  that  of  Amer- 


38  THE    FIRST   DISCOVERY 

ica,  for  a  precise  analysis  in  such  reports 
can  never  be  expected.  Those  farms  adorned 
with  magnificent  buildings  also  indicate 
"  America."  The  degree  of  civilization, 
which  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  existed 
on  the  large  Antilles,  was  only  the  relic  of  a 
declining  and  formerly  far  higher  culture, 
as  is  seen  from  certain  marks.  The  ex 
pressions  which  Diodorus  uses  about  the 
richness  of  the  soil,  fitting  the  country  for 
a  habitation  of  gods  rather  than  of  human 
beings,  occur  likewise  in  passages  of  the 
first  Spanish  discoverers  and  missionaries, 
whose  reports  relate : 

"  The  multitude  of  paradises  with  all  sorts 
of  trees  planted  therein,  gardens  with  sweet 
rivulets  intersecting  them,  the  frequent  and 
luxuriant  tropical  forests,  the  wonderful 
mildness  of  the  climate,  which  causes  the 
earth  to  produce  through  the  longest  part 
of  the  year  a  multitude  of  hard-rinded  and 
other  fruits,  can  not  sufficiently  be  praised." 

In  the  following  chapter  of  Diodorus  the 


OF    AMERICA.  39 

way  of  the  discovery  by  the  Phoenicians  is 
related : 

uln  early  antiquity  it  was  unknown 
through  its  remoteness  from  the  whole  habit 
able  world,  at  a  later  day  it  was  discovered  in 
consequence  of  the  following  circumstances: 
The  Phoenicians  having  from  the  most  an 
cient  times  incessantly  made  commercial 
journeys,  established  in  Africa  many  colonies 
no  less  than  in  Europe,  and  in  the  regions 
toward  the  sunset.  As  their  enterprises 
succeeded  to  their  wish,  they  gained  great 
riches.  Afterward  they  ventured  to  sail, 
passed  the  columns  of  Hercules  into  the 
ocean,  after  having  founded  on  the  straits 
between  the  columns  a  city,  and  called  it 
Gadeira  (Cadiz).  Besides  some  others 
suitable  to  the  locality,  they  erected  a 
splendid  temple  to  Hercules,  and  sacrificed 
gorgeous  victims  conformably  to  their  rites. 
This  temple  was  highly  venerated  in  ancient 
times,  and  also  in  later  centuries,  even  till 
our  days.  While  exploring  the  coast  of 


40  THE    FIRST    DISCOVERY 

Africa  on  that  side  of  the  columns,  the  Phoe 
nicians  were  driven  by  heavy  winds  far  out 
into  the  ocean.  Tossed  about  for  many  days 
by  storms  they  were  carried  finally  to  the 
aforesaid  island,  and  after  investigating  its 
charms,  carried  home  the  account.  But 
when  the  sea-mighty  Tyrians  were  going  to 
send  thither  a  colony,  the  Carthaginians  pre 
vented  them,  partly  out  of  fear  that  many 
would  emigrate  thither  from  Carthage,  partly 
in  order  to  keep  an  asylum  in  case  of  some 
misfortune  occurring.  In  that  event  they 
wished  to  accomplish  a  universal  emigration 
to  that  island."  This  testimony  is  completed 
and  enlarged  by  the  already-mentioned  pas 
sage  from  a  work  generally  ascribed  to  Aris 
totle,  "De  Mirabilibus  Auscultationibus  Li 
ber."  This  work  is  certainly  not  genuine, 
but  it  is  at  all  events  older  than  our  chronol 
ogy.  Here  it  is  said  : 

"  In  the  ocean  on  the  further  side  of  the 
columns  of  Hercules  have  the  Carthaginians 
discovered  a  waste  island  distant  several 


OF   AMERICA.  41 

days'  voyage,  provided  with  woods,  navi 
gable  rivers,  and  admirable  on  account  of 
its  productions."  Both  witnesses,  to  which 
a  certain  historical  character  can  not  be 
denied,  agree  perfectly  in  the  principal 
matter.  The  navigable  riverf  mentioned 
by  Aristotle  prove  that  he  did  not  refer  to 
the  small  islands  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Diodorus  says  :  "  That  country,  so  remote 
from  others,  is  said  to  have  been  discovered 
by  the  Phoenicians,  but  it  was  known  also 
to  the  Carthaginians."  This  does  not  con 
tradict  the  report  of  Aristotle,  of  its  dis 
covery  by  the  latter ;  it  may  be  that  he 
refers  to  an  after-discovery.  Aristotle,  how 
ever,  calls  the  island,  to  which  Diodorus 
ascribes  a  cultivated  population,  a  "waste 
one."  Without  doubt  he  confounds  the 
island  (of  which  Plutarch  also  speaks)  with 
the  continent.  There  are — as  is  known — 
immense  tracts  of  lands,  especially  in  the 
south,  which  may  be  called  uninhabited. 

The  Carthaginian  rulers  forbade  the  voyage 


42  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

to  this  newly  discovered  country  under  pain 
of  death,  and  killed  all  the  emigrants,  in 
order  that  they  might  not  promulgate  the 
knowledge  of  its  existence,  lest  that  then  the 
island  should  gain  the  predominance,  and 
injure  the  prosperity  of  the  mother  country. 
The  rulers  of  the  Carthaginians  were — as  is 
known — rich,  moneyed  aristocrats,  whose  au 
thority  and  importance,  as  everywhere  in 
our  own  days,  depended  on  the  work  of  an 
enormous  multitude  of  paupers.  Therefore 
by  an  emigration  in  mass  their  prosperity 
would  be  ruined  as  well  as  that  of  the  state 
itself,  whose  power  was  founded  upon  the 
density  of  its  population.  The  matters  of 
fact  which  are  contained  in  the  reports  of 
Diodorus  and  Aristotle  certainly  contradict 
all  our  prejudices.  But  when  they  are  sub 
mitted  to  investigation,  they  appear  not  im 
probable.  They  are  moreover  sustained  by 
important  historical  and  geographical  argu 
ments. 

That  the  Phoenicians  in  ancient  time  navi- 


OF   AMERICA.  43 

gated  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  a  well-known 
fact.  It  is  hardly  less  certain  that  they  had 
a  not  inconsiderable  commercial  intercourse 
with  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  which 
continent  they  had  completely  circumnavi 
gated,  according  to  an  entirely  reliable 
report  of  Herodotus.  The  Greek  author 
Strabo  relates  also  that  the  Carthaginians 
possessed  on  the  African  coast  a  hundred 
colonies,  which  is  an  evidence  of  an  active 
commerce  with  tropical  Africa.  There  are 
in  the  Atlantic  ocean-currents  and  also  cur 
rents  of  air  north  of  the  equator ;  they  are 
of  such  a  character,  that  an  active  navigation 
in  those  regions  hardly  can  take  place  with 
out  leading  by  mere  accident  to  America. 
It  is  known  that  it  was  a  tradewind,  in  con 
nection  with  equatorial  currents,  which 
opened  Brazil  to  the  Portuguese  under 
Cabral  in  1500  A.D.,  without  any  intention 
on  their  part.  Is  it  then  surprising  if  a 
similar  eastern  storm  should  have  driven, 
according  to  Diodorus,  a  Phoenician,  and 


44  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

according  to  Aristotle,  a  Carthaginian  vessel 
toward  the  west,  and  opened  to  it  the 
American  continent?  One  is  accustomed  to 
lay  too  great  stress  upon  the  lack  of  the 
compass.  In  the  above  case  this  would 
rather  favor  the  discovery,  when  the  naviga 
tors,  driven  away  from  the  land,  and  having 
entirely  lost  their  course,  sailed  perhaps 
toward  the  west,  while  the  compass  would 

have  directed  them  eastward. 

» 

In  pleasant  weather  heaven  is  the  best 
leader,  therefore  was  the  return  not  a  diffi 
cult  matter.  When  they  perceived  that 
they  had  been  carried  toward  the  west, 
they  had  only  to  sail  back  in  a  plain  eastern 
direction,  in  order  to  reach  Spain  again. 
(Columbus  in  his  voyage  of  discovery  kept 
an  almost  straight  direction.) 

It  is  highly  improbable  that  the  discovery 
of  a  country  so  rich  in  resources  of  all  kinds 
should  not  have  stimulated  to  the  utmost 
activity  a  nation  of  so  much  boldness  and 
enterprise  as  the  Phoenician  Carthagin- 


OF   AMERICA.  45 

ians!  Our  excellent  Movers  has  clearly 
shown  in  the  last  volume  of  his  Phoenician 
Archaeology,  how  little  foundation  there  is 
for  our  prejudices  in  regard  to  the  ship 
building  of  the  ancients.  He  proves  posi 
tively  that  the  ship-building  of  the  Phoeni 
cians  was  much  more  perfect  and  practical 
than  that  of  the  Romans,  Greeks,  and  of 
the  Europeans  before  the  latest  discovery 
of  America,  Surely  their  ships  were  not 
worse  than  those  three  infirm  vessels  with 
which  Columbus  sailed  from  the  Spanish 
harbor  Palos  near  Cadiz.  For  the  rest  one 
must  not  attach  too  much  importance  to  such 
technical  auxiliary  means,  since  the  chief 
lever  for  great  actions  is  found  in  the  power 
and  activity  of  the  people.  The  Northmen 
discovered  in  their  open  boats,  without  any 
other  leader  than  the  heavens,  not  only  Ice 
land  in  the  year  861  A. D.,  but  even  America 
in  the  tenth  century,  as  it  is  stated  in  the 
archives  of  the  city  of  Copenhagen.  There 
was  some  years  ago  in  the  neighborhood  of 


46  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

?r?«^, 

the  town  of  Fall  River,  H.  L,  dug  up  a  skele 
ton  in  complete  Scandinavian  armor.  It  is 
a  certain  historical  fact,  that  Greenland  and 
Yinland  (probably  Labrador  of  our  days) 
were  known  at  that  time,  and  even  the 
coast  of  Massachusetts  (Boston),  and  Florida 
also.  (There  existed  there  a  bishopric,  which 
had  sent  teeth  of  river-horses  [hippopotami] 
as  tribute  to  Rome.)  Since  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century  this  knowledge  had  been 
lost,  and  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  cen 
tury  of  voyages  and  discovery,  nothing  was 
thought  of  but  how  to  find  a  passage  to  the 
East  Indies  by  way  of  the  Western  Ocean. 
The  Northmen  navigated  on  all  southern 
seas,  as  far  as  the  Canary  Islands.  There 
is  also  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa  by 
the  Phoenicians,  of  which  we  possess  such 
respectable  proof.  This  is  by  no  means 
easier  than  the  voyage  to  America,  as  we 
may  see  by  considering  the  expeditions  of 
Columbus  and  his  followers.  Again,  the 
voyage  of  the  Phoenicians  to  America  is 


OF   AMERICA.  47 

not  to  be  compared  to  the  circumnavigation 
of  the  globe  by  Magellan,  1519-1522,  even 
if  we  lay  peculiar  stress  upon  the  real  or 
pretended  inferiority  of  nautical  auxiliary 
means  in  Phoenician  antiquity.  The  Portu 
guese  were  obliged  with  very  slender  equip 
ment  to  cross  the  Pacific,  to  which  the 
Atlantic,  as  regards  extent  and  fearful  soli 
tude,  can  not  be  compared. 

For  the  rest  the  relations  of  the  Phoeni 
cians  to  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  Ocean  were 
like  those  of  the  northern  Europeans  to  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific. 

Among  all  the  accounts  in  history  concern 
ing  the  large  western  country  lying  beyond 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  none  is  more  interesting 
and  important  than  the  account  of  Plato,  the 
pupil  of  Socrates,  of  the  "  Atlantis." 

In  his  dialogues,  "Timseus  and  Critias," 
the  great  philosopher  relates  that  Solon  had 
during  his  stay  in  Egypt  conversed  much 
with  the  Saitic  priests  upon  the  most  promi 
nent  questions  of  human  science,  and  the 


48  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

priests  had  told  him  of  a  nation  which  in 
the  most  ancient  times,  before  the  Hellenians, 
had  dwelt  in  Greece  and  also  in  Africa. 
Concerning  it  they  spoke  thus  : 
u  The  books  report  of  a  mighty  power 
which  had  once  well-nigh  destroyed  your 
state.  At  that  time  the  sea  was  navigable ; 
it  had  an  island  lying  before  its  mouth, 
which  you  call  as  you  assert,  *  the  Columns 
of  Hercules.'  From  this  island,  which  was 
larger  than  Africa  and  Asia  together,  one 
could  reach  other  islands,  and  from  those 
the  whole  opposite  continent  around  that 
real  ocean.  On  this  island,  'Atlantis,' 
existed  a  great  and  memorable  royal  power, 
which  governed  also  many  islands  and  parts 
of  the  continent.  Besides  it  ruled  over  the 
countries  within  the  straits  over  the  coasts 
of  Africa  as  far  as  Egypt,  and  over  Europe 
as  far  as  Etruria.  This  power  once  under 
took  to  reduce  to  slavery  the  inhabitants 
of  our,  your,  and  all  the  remaining  coun 
tries  within  the  straits,  which  design,  how- 


OF   AMERICA.  49 

ever,  was  frustrated  by  the  Uratenians 
through  a  heroic  fortitude  excelling  that 
of  all  their  contemporaries.  In  later  times 
however,  by  great  earthquakes  and  inunda 
tions,  in  one  day  and  one  night  of  misfortune, 
your  whole  army  was  devoured  by  the  earth, 
and  the  island  'Atlantis'  by  the  ocean.  There 
fore  the  sea  is  now  inaccessible  and  unex 
plored,  since  the  deep  morass  left  behind 
by  the  disappearance  of  the  island  prevents 
all  navigation." 

There  is  no  sufficient  cause  for  doubting  the 
Egyptian  origin  of  the  myth,  which  was  trans 
mitted  by  Solon  to  Timaeus  and  the  Critias, 
and  by  them  to  a  contemporary  of  Plato,  or 
even  to  Plato  himself.  The  Egyptians  could 
however  easily  have  obtained  news  of  the 
remote  West  from  their  Phoenician  neighbors. 
As  a  prominent  point  in  the  dialogue  we 
notice  the  mention  of  an  immense  morass  in 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  as  an  impediment  to  the 
navigation.  u  Critias'7  argues  that  the  an 
cient  Egyptians,  and  accordingly  the  Phoeni- 


50  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

cians,  were  well  acquainted  with  the  vast 
Fucus  Banks  lying  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean, 
and  indeed  north-west  of  the  Azores.  We 
are  almost  constrained  to  this  belief  when 
we  examine  Columbus'  report  of  his  first 
expedition.  He  says  :  "I  found  the  sea 
covered  with  such  a  mass  of  weeds,  that  I 
was  forced  to  believe  the  vessels  would  come 
upon  a  shallow  for  a  lack  of  water.  No 
trace,  however,  was  to  be  perceived  of  such 
sea-plants  anywhere  else." 

The  idea  that  the  ancients  in  their  voyages 
only  skirted* the  coasts  is  therefore  refuted 
by  this  statement,  which  forms  likewise  an 
evidence  that  they  were  acquainted  with  the 
much  nearer  Azores,  for  Plato  says  : 

"  One  can  pass  over  from  that  great  island 
to  the  remaining  islands,  and  from  these  to 
continent." 

The  remaining  islands  can  be  no  others 
than  the  Azores,  and  perhaps  also  the  Cana 
ries,  which  are  still  intermediate  stages  be 
tween  the  old  and  the  new  continents.  It 


OF   AMERICA.  51 

follows  riot  less  from  the  account  of  Plato 
than  from  those  of  Plutarch,  Diodorus,  and 
Aristotle,  that  this  large  western  country 
can  not  be  any  of  the  minor  islands  of  the 
ocean,  but  simply  the  American  continent. 

The  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  island 
"  Atlantis"  (after  which  the  western  ocean 
was  probably  named  by  the  ancients,  "  At 
lantic  Ocean")  can  be  explained  thus : 
There  existed  perhaps  in  the  primitive  time 
an  island  of  moderate  extent,  which  was 
destroyed  by  such  a  catastrophe.  Since 
such  an  intermediate  stage  would  have 
facilitated  the  intercourse  with  America,  the 
opinion  might  easily  arise  after  its  destruc 
tion,  that  the  continent  lying  behind  had 
been  also  destroyed.  From  a  scientific  point 
of  view  such  a  catastrophe  is  not  improbable. 
The  island  of  Ferdinandea  arose  suddenly 
between  Africa  and  Sicily,  but  afterward 
was  swept  away.  At  the  mouth  of  the  In 
dus,  after  an  earthquake  in  1819,  a  tract  of 
land  of  almost  a  hundred  square  miles  dis- 


52  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

appeared,  and  the  spot  is  now  occupied  by 
a  large  lake.  The  bed  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  is  decidedly  of  volcanic  character. 
The  islands  which  it  contains,  the  Azores, 
Canaries,  and  Cape  Yerde,  have  burning 
volcanos.  The  volcanos  of  the  Caribbean 
Islands  are  in  constant  activity.  That  hor 
rible  earthquake  which  destroyed  Lisbon  in 
1755,  stirred  up  the  whole  ocean  from  the 
Antilles  as  far  as  Greenland.  The  American 
earthquakes  in  1811-13  were  felt  as  far  as 
the  Azores. 

This  interpretation  disagrees  however  with 
the  above-discussed  testimonies  of  three 
Greek  authors,  Plutarch,  Diodorus,  and  Aris 
totle,  who  mention  no  destruction  of  the 
islands  of  which  they  speak. 

More  probable  therefore  may  be  the  fol 
lowing  explanation  : 

"The  Phoenicians,  endowed  above  other 
nations  with  intelligence,  energy,  and  enter 
prise,  had  in  the  early  days  of  their  great 
ness  (1000-600  B.C.)  discovered  America. 


OF    AMERICA.  53 

The  following  generations,  encouraged  by 
reports  of  that  old  intercourse,  attempted 
likewise  the  great  navigation  across  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  They  went,  however,  only 
as  far  as  the  vast  Fucus  prairies.  Since 
they  did  not  venture  to  sail  beyond  them, 
they  invented  after  their  return  the  fiction 
of  the  destruction  of  that  large  western 
country,  and  of  the  morass  left  behind  by 
its  sinking.  With  respect  to  the  great  polit 
ical  power  of  those  islands,  which  are  said 
to  have  subjugated  whole  empires  in  Europe 
and  Africa,  we  can  find  no  mention  of  it 
in  any  historical  tradition.  It  is,  however, 
remarkable  that  in  the  most  ancient  times 
a  highly  cultivated  nation  has  inhabited  the 
whole  of  North  America  as  far  as  the  five 
lakes,  i.  e.,  Lake  Superior,  Michigan,  Huron, 
Erie,  and  Ontario,  and  that  many  remains 
of  fortified  cities,  temples,  and  pyramids 
prove  its  existence  and  greatness.  There 
was  discovered  in  1787,  near  the  large  In 
dian  village  Palenque  (in  Southern  Mexico, 


54  THE   FIRST   DISCOVERY 

in  the  State  of  Chiapa),  the  considerable 
ruins  of  the  ancient  city  of  Colhuacan, 
which  must  have  had  an  extent  of  over 
twelve  miles.  There  are  still  to  be  seen 
ruins  of  palaces,  temples,  walls  with  semi- 
relief  of  sculpture  and  human  beings  por 
trayed  of  quite  another  race  than  that  found 
by  the  Europeans  in  1500.  There  were  also 
found  hieroglyphics  which  were  unmistakably 
Egyptian  in  their  character.  In  the  States 
of  Georgia,  Kentucky  (in  the  Mammoth 
Cave  even  mummies  were  discovered),  Iowa, 
Ohio,  and  many  others  exist  fortifications  of 
earth  dating  from  an  ante-Indian  period,  and 
many  other  monuments  of  very  primitive 
ages.  It  is  also  certain  that  this  culture 
did  not  arise  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
but  was  introduced  from  the  South.  This 
is  to  be  seen  by  the  representations  on  monu 
ments  of  southern  animals  and  plants  not 
existing  in  North  America. 

We  have  therefore  to   distinguish  three 
different  discoveries  of  America : 


OF   AMERICA.  55 

The  first  one  during  the  period  from 
1000-600  B.C.,  by  the  Phoenicians  and  their 
Carthaginian  descendants. 

The  second  one  in  the  tenth  century  A.D., 
by  the  Northmen  and  Scandinavians,  and 

The  third  one  in  1492,  by  the  Genoese 
Christopher  Columbus. 


ESSAY      II, 


THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS 
OF  ANCIENT  AMERICAN 
ORIENTAL  CULTURE. 


II. 

THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

ANCIENT   AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL 

CULTURE. 

THE  testimony  of  the  authors  of  antiquity, 
\yhich  we  considered  in  the  preceding 
essay,  furnishes  a  complete  solution  of  the 
problem,  how  it  is  possible  that  one  part  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  America  should 
exhibit  a  typical  affinity  with  the  Semitic 
race. 

To  this  Semitic  race  belonged  the  most 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Babylonia,  who  pos 
sessed  the  whole  plain  of  Middle  Asia. 
Their  language  was  spoken  in  many  dialects, 
from  the  Halys  River  to  the  Tigris,  and 
from  the  Caucasian  Mountains  to  the  south 
ern  point  of  Arabia.  The  Pho3nicians  and 


60     THE   COINCIDENCES  AND   RELATIONS    OF 

their  Carthaginian  descendants  belonged 
also  to  the  Semitic  race. 

It  is  now  the  question,  whether  the  an 
cient  culture  of  America  is  of  a  kind  that 
can  be  referred  to  a  partially  Semitic  origin 
or  not.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  in  the 
whole  mode  of  civilization,  and  also  in  the 
mythology,  there  is  such  analogical  proof 
of  relation  to  the  Phoenicians,  and  especially 
to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  that  even  the  most 
zealous  defenders  of  the  theory  of  an  indige 
nous  culture  are  obliged  to  concede  its  im 
portance. 

Before  we  investigate  this  conformity  in 
detail,  we  may  be  permitted  to  cast  a  glance 
at  those  nations  of  antiquity  to  which  first 
of  all  we  must  refer.  It  is  a  wrong  custom 
with  modern  historians,  to  search  for  the 
origin  of  human  culture  among  the  ancient 
Greeks.  It  arises  from  the  want  of  historical 
knowledge  of  other  nations  of  antiquity,  and 
from  the  influence  of  prejudice.  By  the 
more  recent  investigations  in  Oriental  litera- 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    61 

ture  it  is  seen  that  the  Greek  mode  of  civili 
zation  was  the  only  one  possible  to  a  nation 
whose  prosperity  commenced  when  that  of 
the  whole  remaining  world  presented  the 
spectacle  of  an  immense  decay,  and  that 
that  age,  contemplated  as  a  whole,  can  be 
esteemed  only  as  a  period  of  decay  or  de 
cline.  It  was  preceded  by  other  ages  of  a 
most  flourishing  condition  of  Western  Asia, 
during  which  that  part  of  the  world  exerted 
no  less  influence  on  the  commercial  and 
national  relations  of  the  globe  than  Europe 
now  does.  Just  as  Europe  does  now,  so 
Western  Asia  manifested  its  superior  force 
for  two  thousand  years  B.C.  One  proof  of 
this  is  seen  in  the  European  languages  which 
almost  all  evince  an  Oriental  origin.  Rome, 
Carthage,  Etruria,  and  Hispania  were,  as  we 
know  from  certain  tradition,  colonies  of 
Western  Asia.  The  Phoenicians  established 
and  ruled  colonies  on  almost  all  the  coasts 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  culture  of 
this  sacerdotal  age  of  the  world  became  far 


62       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

extended  by  the  Britons  and  others,  who  in 
the  earliest  historical  age  emigrated,  partially 
by  way  of  Egypt,  to  the  western  countries. 

Fifteen  or  sixteen  centuries  B.C.  the  Egyp 
tians  waged  wars  of  conquest  which,  accord 
ing  to  several  authors,  extended  their  power 
as  far  as  Bactria,  and  even  India.  Their 
culture  had  already  advanced  in  a  remark 
able  degree,  and  their  monuments  give  proof 
that  many  of  the  hostile  nations  were  hardly 
lower  in  the  scale  of  intellectual  develop 
ment. 

In  later  times  the  Iranic  nation,  consist 
ing  of  the  Aledians  and  the  Persians,  threw 
off  the  Egyptian  yoke,  and  undertook  a 
campaign  toward  the  northern  part  of 
Africa,  by  means  of  which  they  left  behind, 
as  Sallust  reports — quoting  from  Carthagin 
ian  books — colonies  in  Spain  and  Africa. 

The  Greek  author,  Diodorus  Siculus,  re 
ports  that  Egypt  from  the  most  ancient 
times  was  not  spared  by  foreign  conquerors. 
He  speaks  of  the  Hycsos,  pastoral  kings,  who 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    63 

residing  in  Memphis,  governed  for  centuries, 
and  erected  the  great  pyramid  near  Cairo, 
which  reached  the  altitude  of  450  feet.  At 
that  time  the  Jews  were  captives  in  Egypt. 
These  Hycsos  are  said  to  have  been  of 
Arabian  descent.  Then  Diodorus  speaks  of 
the  Ethiopian  Sabaco,  whose  prey  Egypt 
became  for  a  long  time.  Sabaco  invaded 
Egypt  in  750  B.  c.,  and  kept  it  for  fifty 
years. 

To  the  Semitic  culture  belongs  as  a  capi 
tal  branch  the  very  ancient  hierarchical 
culture  of  Etruria.  Not  less  similar  to  it~is 
that  of  ancient  Spain.  The  Etruscans  pos 
sessed  the  country  from  the  Tiber  as  far  as 
the  Alps  about  1490  B.C.,  had  established 
colonies  in  Southern  Italy  and  on  the  smaller 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  Trojan  war  were  noted  for  their 
commerce,  navigation,  and  knowledge  of 
other  secular  as  well  as  religious  affairs.  The 
Romans  borrowed  many  of  their  institutions 
from  them.  But  before  they  were  able  to 


64      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

develop  the  beautiful  shoots  of  their  culture, 
the  Gauls  from  beyond  the  Alps  invaded 
and  took  from  them  the  whole  valley  of  the 
Po.  Their  settlements  in  the  South  became 
the  prey  of  the  Samnites,  and  at  last  they 
were  subjugated  by  the  Romans.  Like  the 
most  of  the  nations  of  that  time  they  had  not 
organized  themselves  into  separate  states. 
When  they  came  in  contact  with  the  Romans, 
they  possessed  twelve  cities,  each  with  a 
dependent  territory  in  Etruria.  Each  of 
these  had  a  Lucumo,  which  means  "  a  man 
of  the  laws."  These  Lucumos  are  analogous 
to  the  Carthaginian  SufFetes.  At  an  early 
age  the  arts  and  sciences  flourished  among 
them.  Their  tasteful  vases  still  serve  our 
artists  as  models.  Their  flourishing  condi 
tion  lasted  from  1077-670  B.C.,  when  Rome 
arose,  and  took  away  one  city  after  another. 
In  modern  times  were  dug  up  in  Tarra 
gona  (Spain)  walls  of  very  ancient  buildings, 
which  prove  by  their  sculpture  that  in  Spain 
as  well  as  in  Egypt  hieroglyphics  supplied 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN   AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  65 

the  place  of  written  "letters.  On  the  Canary 
Islands,  especially  on  Teneriffe,  there  existed 
laws  and  sacerdotal  institutions  quite  similar 
to  those  of  the  Egyptians.  In  particular 
the  embalming  of  the  dead  was  a  striking 
feature. 

Mr.  Jones  in  his  excellent  history  of  An 
cient  America  (London,  1843,  Vol.  I.), 
speaks  of  the  mummies  found  on  the  Cana 
ries  as  follows : 

"Mummies  have  been  discovered  (but 
without  the  sarcophagi)  at  Arico,  in  the 
island  of  Teneriffe,  and  at  Arica  in  Peru — a 
similitude  is  discernible  even  in  the  local 
name  given  to  the  districts,  where  the 
mummy-pits  were  found.  Analogy  is  at 
once  perceptible  in  analyzing  the  ancient 
word  Guanches  (the  aborigines  of  Teneriffe). 
It  is  derived  from  Guan — i.  e.,  man,  con 
sequently  in  his  natural  and  uncontrolled 
state — therefore  Freemen — this  fact  is  sanc 
tioned  by  their  escape  from  thralldom  or 
slavery,  when  they  first  arrived  on  the  island. 


66      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

Again,  in  ancient  America  the  places  where 
mummies  are  found  are  called  Guacas,  i.  e., 
the  abode  of  man  in  his  decayed  state.  The 
reader  will  instantly  perceive  that  in  the 
construction  of  the  word  as  used  in  both 
localities,  there  is  a  direct  similitude.  The 
first  land  also  re-discovered  by  Columbus  in 
the  western  hemisphere,  was  called  by  the 
natives  Guanahani — the  Genoese  named  it 
St.  Salvador. 

The  word  "Teneriffe"  in  the  original  lan 
guage  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  —  the 
Guanches — signifies  White  Mountains  (Tha- 
nar,  mountain,  and  Iffe,  white),  from  the 
celebrated  peak  being  (from  its  altitude) 
always  covered  with  snow.  The  word 
"  mummy"  was  originally  applied  to  a  drug  so 
called,  which  was  probably  used  by  the  Egyp 
tians  as  one  of  their  ingredients  in  embalm 
ing  or  preserving  the  dead.  It  may  appear 
strange  at  the  first  glance  that  there  should 
be  any  connection  between  the  mummies  of 
Teneriffe  and  those  of  Peru  toward  establish- 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    67 

ing  that  the  American  aborigines  were 
originally  Tyrians;  but  there  is  a  connec 
tion,  and  as  certain  as  that  a  chain  of  three 
links  owes  its  utility  to  the  connecting  power 
of  the  central  one,  Teneriffe  forms  that 
central  link  between  Tyrus  and  the  western 
continent.  The  natural  question  then  is — 
Were  the  Guanches  (ancient  Canarians)  of 
the  Tyrian  family?  —  This  we  distinctly 
answer  in  the  affirmative. 

Mr.  Pettigrew,  in  his  valuable  "History 
of  Egyptian  Mummies,"  has  the  following 
remark  upon  those  discovered  at  Teneriffe : 
"  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  Canary  Islands 
should  have  adopted  a  practice  of  embalm 
ing  in  some  measure  similar  to  that  of  the 
Egyptian  is  rather  singular,  seeing  that  they 
were  separated  from  each  other  by  the  en 
tire  breadth  of  North  Africa."  Now  the 
above  author  assumes  as  a  necessity  that  the 
ancient  Guanches  (Canarians)  must  have 
emigrated  bj&land;  otherwise  the  sentence 
"  entire  breadth  of  Northern  Africa"  is  use- 


68      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

lessly  brought  forward  to  express  the  barrier 
between  the  islands  and  Egypt.  The  theory 
of  the  emigration  by  land  cannot  be  sus 
tained,  but  it  is  absolutely  rejected  and  inter 
dicted  by  the  fact  that  the  Guanches  must 
have  had  means  of  navigation  in  order  to 
have  reached  the  chief  islands,  even  after 
their  arrival  upon  the  shores  of  the  contingent 
— which  are  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  Teneriffe.  This  fact,  then,  points 
to  a  nation  having  acquaintance  with  Egypt 
and  the  means  of  navigation  ;  and  also  of  one 
"  advanced  in  civilization,"  for .  such  were 
the  now  extinct  nation  of  Guanches,  as  de 
scribed  by  the  Spanish  historians.  Truth 
seems  at  once  to  point  to  the  Tyrians  as  the 
aborigines  of  those  islands.  Mr.  Pettigrew 
probably  forgot  that  Herodotus  has  recorded 
the  celebrated  Egypto-Tyrian  expedition 
around  the  continent  of  Africa,  which  oc 
curred  609-606  years  B.C.  It  is  apparent 
that  the  Fortunatas  Insulse,  as  the  Canary 
Islands  were  called  by  the  ancients,  were 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   69 

discovered  during  the  three  years'  voyage 
related  by  the  Greek  historian,  for  they  were 
known  to  the  Tyrians  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era.  After  the  direful  event  (i.  e., 
the  destruction  of  Tyre  by  Alexander  the 
Great)  which  drove  the  Tyrians  forever 
from  the  Mediterranean,  we  believe  that  their 
first  resting-place  was  among  the  Canary 
Islands — and  as  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe  arose 
as  a  welcome  beacon — that  island  became  to 
them  the  chief  place  of  temporary  residence 
after  their  fortunate  escape.  It  appears  quite 
evident  that  the  group  was  then  named  by 
the  Tyrians — for  as  the  Fortunate  Isles  they 
are  known  in  ancient  geography. 

That  the  aborigines  of  the  islands  and 
those  of  ancient  America  were  the  same  will 
be  admitted  from  the  fact  that  mummies  were 
discovered  in  the  two  countries.  They  are 
exactly  similar,  and  they  are  not  Egyptian — 
for  they  lack  the  stone  sarcophagi,  the 
hieroglyphics,  and  the  mummy-cloths.  The 
mummies  of  Peru  and  Teneriffe  are  bound  in 


70      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

skins  of  animals  (a  custom  nowhere  else 
found,  although  it  is  recorded  of  the  Scythi 
ans) — those  of  the  former  in  the  skin  of  the 
lama,  those  of  the  latter  in  the  skin  of  the 
goat,  an  animal  in  which  the  island  abounded, 
and  with  the  skins  of  which  the  original  in 
habitants  clothed  themselves.  The  mummies 
of  both  countries  are  also  bound  within  the 
skins  by  leather  thongs  and  straps,  made 
from  the  hides  of  the  respective  animals. 
Such  facts  can  not  be  accidental — they  must 
be  identical.  The  manner-  ascribed  above 
may  have  been  the  custom  in  Mexican- 
America.  That  they  are  only  discovered  at 
Arica,  in  Peru,  may  arise  from  natural  causes, 
viz.,  that  at  Arica  the  rain  never  falls  (as 
in  Egypt)  and  the  soil  is  calcareous.  The 
dryness  of  the  atmosphere,  with  the  saline 
qualities  of  the  earth,  produce  natural  em 
balming,  thus  preserving  the  bodies  for  ages 
from  decomposition ;  while  in  other  portions 
of  the  continent,  from  the  moisture  and  the 
absence  of  preserving  qualities,  the  bodies 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.     71 

would  gradually  decay  and  return  and  min 
gle  with  the  undistinguished  dust  of  centu 
ries. 

There  are  points  of  similarity  to  the  Tyri- 
ans  observable  in  the  details  and  decorations 
of  the  Peruvian  mummies,  both  of  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  Those  of  the  poor  are  invari 
ably  found  resting  upon  beds  of  broken  fish- 
shells  ;  those  beds  are  supposed  to  ha-ve  been 
placed  there  from  religious  motives.  May 
not  the  purple  murex  (i.  e.,  dye-shellfish)  of 
Tyrus  (as  on  the  altar  of  Copan)  be  here 
alluded  to  ?  In  the  same  mummy  pits  (and 
they  extend  over  a  mile)  are  found  models 
of  boats,  lines,  and  fish-hooks.  These  are 
buried  with  the  mummies,  and  evidently  are 
witnesses  of  the  occupation  or  the  religious 
motives  of  the  departed !  Is  not  Tyrus  here, 
also  ?  Her  fisheries  were  her  national  em 
blems.  And  that  this  custom  (whereby  the 
means  of  sustenance  were  obtained)  was 
practised  in  South  America  by  the  aborigines 
is  distinctly  stated  by  Dr.  Robertson  upon 


72       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

the  authority  of  B  err  ere.  The  statement 
also  shows  that  the  distinction  between  the 
aborigines  of  the  north  and  south,  or  Mexi 
can  America,  is  -apparent ;  those  of  the  for 
mer  depended  upon  hunting  for  their  suste 
nance,  those  of  the  latter,  or  the  Tyrian  de 
scendants,  as  did  their  ancestors,  upon  their 
fisheries.  Robertson  says  :  u  In  this  part  of 
the  globe  (i.  e.,  South  America)  hunting 
seems  not  to  have  been  the  first  employment 
of  men,  nor  the  first  effort  of  their  invention 
and  labor  to  obtain  food.  They  were  fishers 
before  they  became  hunters." — Vol.  V.,  Book 
IV,  p.  318. 

The  boat  model  is  directly  emblematical 
of  a  religious  custom  of  Tyrus — copied  from 
the  Egyptian — viz.,  the  belief  that  the  soul 
has  to  pass  through  various  stages  and  transi 
tions  before  it  reaches  its  final  destination  or 
happiness.  To  accomplish  this,  the  body 
must  pass  over  a  river  in  a  sacred  barge  or 
boat ;  the  helmsman  was  called  by  the  Egyp 
tians,  in  their  own  language,  Charon.  The 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    73 

classic  reader  will  instantly  trace  the  mytho 
logical  fable  of  Greece  concerning  the  ferry 
man  of  the  River  Styx — probably  introduced 
into  Grecian  Thebes  by  the  Tyrian  Cadmus. 

The  mummies  of  the  rich  discovered  in 
Peru  are  invariably  wrapped  in  cloth,  crim 
son  (purple)  colored.  Here,  then,  is  the  na 
tional  color  of  Tyrus  (derived  from  the  shell 
fish)  and  which  made  that  country  so  re 
nowned.  This  color  is  found  enveloping  the 
bodies  of  the  rich,  while  the  useless  and 
"  broken  shells"  of  the  fish  are  found  beneath 
those  of  the  poor — the  same  national  tribute 
to  both  (though  in  degree  according  to  the 
wealth  of  the  deceased),  for  the  Tyrians,  like 
the  Egyptians,  admitted  no  distinction  in  the 
grave  based  upon  rank  or  title — but  held 
that  good  deeds  alone  constituted  the  true 
claim  to  distinction. 

In  a  notice  of  the  ancient  mummies  of 
Teneriffe,  Alexander  von  Humboldt  states 
that  they  differ  from  the  Egyptians  in  physi 
ognomy,  and  that  the  ornaments  resemble 


74     THE    COINCIDENCES   AND   RELATIONS    OF 

those  used  in  Mexican  America.  When  the 
illustrious  traveler  wrote  those  facts  (as 
shown  in  the  following  quotation)  there  was 
no  theory  in  his  mind  in  reference  to  the 
Tyrians — yet  his  remarks  will  support  this 
present  history,  and  they  are  too  important, 
as  to  undeniable  authority,  to  be  passed  by 
indifferently  by  the  reader.  Humboldt  says : 
"  On  examining  carefully  the  physiognomy 
of  the  ancient  Canarians,  able  anatomists 
have  recognized  in  the  cheek-bones  and  the 
lower  jaw  a  perceptible  difference  from  the 
Egyptian  mummies.  The  corpses  are  often 
decorated  with  small  laces  (necklaces)  to 
which  are  hung  little  disks  of  baked  earth 
(clay)  that  seemed  to  have  served  as  numer 
ical  (religious  ?)  signs ;  and  resemble  the 
quippoes  of  the  Peruvians  and  Mexicans" 

Here,  then,  upon  the  high  authority  of 
Humboldt,  is  an  analogy  traced  both  by  the 
ornaments  of  the  mummies  of  the  Guanches 
(Tyrians)  and  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Mexican  America.  Upon  every  considera- 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    75 

tion  of  the  subject,  tlie  mummies  discovered 
at  Teneriffe  and  in  Peru  are  identical,  the 
same  kind  are  not  found  in  any  other  parts 
of  the  world,  and  Teneriffe  (as  chief  of  the 
Fortunate  Isles)  was  known,  visited,  and  in 
habited  by  the  Tyrians." 

After  this  long  extract  from  Mr.  Jones' 
history  of  ancient  America,  we  will  in  the  fol 
lowing  lines  consider  the  state  of  culture  in 
ancient  America  as  a  relic  of  the  ancient  cul 
ture  of  mankind,  which  was  preserved  by  its 
withdrawal  from  the  development  of  the  rest 
of  the  world  to  the  fifteenth  century. 

When  the  Spaniards  discovered  America, 
they  found  people  there,  especially  in  three 
States,  who  were  in  some  respects  more  cul 
tivated  than  themselves,  i.  e.,  the  Aztecs,  in 
Mexico  or  Anahuak;  the  Muyscas,  on  the 
high  table-lands  of  Bogota,  and  the  Peru 
vians  in  Peru.  The  latter  state,  and  also  the 
Mexican,  had  suffered  many  revolutions ;  that 
of  the  Muyscas,  on  the  contrary,  was  of  great 
antiquity  in  its  existent  condition.  There 


76      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OP 

immigrated  into  Mexico  from  the  north,  ac 
cording  to  tradition,  about  the  year  648,  A.D., 
the  nation  of  Toltec,  who  subjugated  the  for 
mer  cultivated  inhabitants  and  adopted  their 
civilization,  but  finally  was  almost  destroyed 
by  internal  dissension,  pestilence,  and  other 
disasters.  Afterwards  there  invaded  Ana- 
huak,  about  1170,  from  the  same  region,  the 
hunting  nation  of  the  Chichimecs,  who  had 
affinity  with  the  Toltecs  in  language,  and 
drove  the  remainder  of  their  predecessors  in 
government- to  ward  the  south.  These  were 
followed  by  the  Nahuatlacs,  a  family  of  Az 
tecs,  established  in  1325,  on  an  island  in  the 
Lake  Tezcuco  the  city  of  Tenochtitlan  or 
Mexico.  (The  name  Mexico  denotes  the 
residence  of  Mexitli  or  Huitzilopochtli,  the 
mighty  god  of  war  of  the  Aztecs.)  It  was 
surrounded  by  five  lakes  and  volcanoes.  The 
Aztecs,  gaining  immense  stren^h,  conquered 
all  the  southern  countries  as  far  as  Guatemala, 
and  the  northern  as  far  as  Sonora.  The  last 
empire  of  the  Peruvians  is  said  to  have  arisen 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  77 

only  in  the  twelfth  century.  All  nations  and 
empires  mentioned  here  left  behind  them  re 
markable  monuments  of  architecture  and 
other  arts.  But  all  the  rest  are  not  to  be 
compared  to  those  of  the  most  ancient  and 
the  most  cultivated  nation,  the  Maja  people, 
who,  long  before  the  invasion  of  the  Toltecs, 
were  diffused  over  the  continent  and  the 
islands.  Their  cities,  whose  prodigious  ruins 
we  find  in  Yucatan,  Chiapa,  Guatemala,  and 
other  countries,  existed  partially  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  dominion.  The  Teocallis 
(houses  of  God)  and  arched  constructions 
near  Kabah,  the  ruins  of  Labnah,  with  double 
columns,  those  of  Zayi,  with  columns  of 
almost  Doric  order,  and  those  of  Chiche,  with 
large  ornamental  pilasters,  were  a  certain 
proof  of  a  high  culture.  It  was  owing  to 
that  circumstance  that  they  were  preserved 
from  total  destruction,  because  they  differed 
especially  in  the -fine  arts,  architecture  and 
sculpture,  from  the  Aztec  cities.  In  regard 
to  the  similarity  of  these  artificial  works 


78       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

with  those  of  the  ancient  Oriental,  we 
will  cite  several  observations  of  a  decided 
opponent  of  a  foreign  origin  of  ancient 
American  culture  mentioned  by  Professor 
Miiller.  He  says :  "  It  is  astonishing  to 
every  one  to  contemplate  in  the  images  the 
similarity  in  regard  to  decoration  with  the 
Egyptian,  Etruscan,  and  Pelasgian  ones." 

Tiedeman  classes  these  monuments  of  archi 
tecture  with  the  Egyptian,  Syrian,  Persian, 
and  Indian.  Stephens  found  near  Palenque 
a  statue  eleven  and  a  half  feet  high,  which  in 
appearance  was  completely  Egyptian.  This 
latter  is  certainly  a  remarkable  witness  to  the 
assumed  fact  that  America  was  very  early 
settled  by  a  strange  nation. 

In  Peru,  especially  on  the  banks  of  the 
large  lake  of  Titicaca,  which  has  an  extent 
of  over  two  hundred  and  forty  square  miles, 
existed  a  very  ancient  culture,  whose  monu 
ments  were  lately  examined  by  D'Orbigny. 
Among  them  were  great  statues  of  basalt, 
with  heads  like  those  of  the  Egyptians.  In 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   79 

fact,  one  has  only  to  look  at  the  different 
American  sculptures,  as  represented  in  the 
works  of  Squier,  to  be  instantly  struck  with 
the  similarity  to  the  Egyptian  statues,  as  well 
in  the  form  of  the  pedestals  as  in  the  posture 
of  the  figures  and  the  whole  manner  of  rep 
resentation.  Especially  prominent  in  this  re 
spect  are  the  Teocallis  (the  houses  of  gods), 
or  ancient  Mexican  pyramids,  which  were  at 
once  temples  and  monuments.  They  differ 
very  much  in  magnitude  and  style,  but  re 
semble  in  their  general  features  the  pyramids 
of  the  Babylonians  and  Etruscans.  In  almost 
every  age,  until  the  Mexican  race  was  con 
quered,  such  Teocallis  existed.  Some  of 
them,  and  indeed  precisely  the  most  magnifi 
cent  ones,  are  of  the  earliest  age ;  for  exam 
ple,  the  pyramid  of  Cholula,  which,  accord 
ing  to  tradition,  was  reared  by  the  aborigines 
of  Otomies. 

Of  this  Alexander  von  Humboldt  says : 
"  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  descriptions 
which  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus  have 


80      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

left  us  of  the  Temple  of  Belus,  without  being 
surprised  at  the  similarity  between  it,  as 
there  described,  and  the  Teocallis  of  Ana- 
huak." 

On  the  Mexican  pyramids,  as  well  as  on 
the  Bel  temple,  the  workmanship  of  the  inte 
rior — Naos — can  be  distinguished  from  that 
on  the  platform  of  the  pyramid.  This  is 
plainly  stated  in  the  letters  of  Cortez. 

Diodorus  relates  :  "  The  Babylonian  tem 
ple  was  used  by  the  Chaldeans  as  an  obser 
vatory."  The  Mexican  priests  likewise  ob 
served  the  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
from  the  turrets  of  the  Teocallis,  and  pro 
claimed  with  hoarse  cries  through  their  trum 
pets  the  watches  of  the  night. 

Humboldt  writes:  "It  does  not  appear 
from  the  ancient  authors  whether  the  sides 
of  the  temple  of  Bel,  like  the  pyramids  of  the 
Egyptians  and  Americans,  faced  the  four 
quarters  of  heaven."  This  matter  is  now, 
however,  through  the  late  investigation  of 
Fresnels  in  Babylonia,  reduced  to  a  certainty. 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    81 

The  temple  of  Bel  is  by  Diodorus  called 
"the  monument  of  Bel."  By  the  Mexicans 
as  by  the  Egyptians  the  pyramids  were  used 
as  monuments. 

In  regard  to  magnitude,  the  pyramid  of 
Cholula  was  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
Egyptians.  It  was  higher  than  the  pyramid 
of  Myserinos — twice  as  high  as  the  one  of 
Cheops. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  introduce  a  de 
scription  of  these  monuments  of  architecture 
from  Mr.  Jones'  u  History  of  Ancient  Amer 
ica.  "—Vol.  I,  pp.  51-54. 

u  The  several  discoveries  of  the  ruined 
cities  will  now  be  reviewed  and  established. 
In  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Mexican  Empire 
it  has  been  stated  that  the  Spaniards  acted 
the  character  of  incendiaries.  In  1520,  every 
available  specimen  of  Mexican  art  was  con 
sumed  by  Cortez  and  the  priests.  Paintings, 
the  only  manuscripts  of  the  Mexican  nation, 
were  destroyed  and  became  a  bonfire  for  the 
soldiery — every  palace  and  temple  of  the 


82     THE    COINCIDENCES  AND   RELATIONS   OF 

capital  was  leveled  to  the  earth,  and  the 
foundation  of  the  first  cathedral  of  the  inva 
ders  was  laid  with  thousands  of  statues — the 
idols  of  the  aborigines.  Every  vestige  of 
the  Mexican  records  was  supposed  to  have 
been  consumed,  broken,  or  burned.  After  a 
lapse  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  years,  two 
statues  were  dug  up  in  the  grand  plaza  of 
the  modern  city  of  Mexico  ;  but  from  the  in 
terest  felt  for  those  religious  relics  by  the 
poor  descendants  of  the  aborigines,  the  Span 
iards  secretly  buried  them,  it  was  said,  in  the 
garden-court  of  a  convent.  At  the  same 
time  (1790)  was  exhumed  a  circular  piece 
of  sculpture,  having  reference  to  the  astro 
nomical  calendar  of  the  ancient  inhabitants, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  Mexico." 

A  brief  review  of  the  discovery  of  the 
ruins  and  their  locality  will  now  be  required. 
From  a  record  by  Huarros  of  Guatemala,  and 
that  on  the  authority  of  Fuentes,  the  ruins  of 
Copan  were  known  in  1700.  Palenque  was 
visited  by  Del  Rio  and  by  Dupaix  about 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   83 

1805.  In  the  beginning  of  the  nineteeth 
century  the  scientific  Humboldt  visited  Mex 
ico  ;  he  obtained  drawings  of  the  ruins  of 
Mitla,  in  the  province  of  Oaxaca,  and  others 
of  a  similar  character,  but  especially  of  the 
terraced  pyramid  of  Cholula,  which  he  vis 
ited.  The  investigations  were  published  by 
the  same  scholastic  traveler.  At  a  later  pe 
riod  Uxmal  (Yucatan)  was  explored  under 
commission  of  the  Spanish  government,  by 
Waldeck ;  his  work  (folio)  is  most  beautifully 
illustrated.  In  compliment  to  the  nobleman 
who  published  the  great  work  of  ancient 
Mexican  paintings,  he  called  one  of  the  ruins 
u  The  Pyramid  of  Kingsborough" — an  an 
achronism,  perhaps  allowable,  when  the  mo 
tive  is  considered.  Copan  was .  visited  by 
Galindoin  1836  ;  but  he  lacked  the  persever 
ance  necessary  for  a  perfect  exploration. 
This  latter  desideratum  was  fully  evinced 
by  Stephens  and  Catherwood,  who,  in 
1839-40,  visited  and  explored  all  of  the 
above  (excepting  those  seen  by  Baron  Hum- 


84       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

boldt),  and  several  cities  before  unknown  in 
general  history.  As  a  geograpical  position 
the  localities  of  these  dead  cities  are  between 
the  capital  of  Mexico  and  the  Isthmus  of  Da- 
rien,  but  chiefly  in  Guatemala,  on  the  bor 
ders  of  Yucatan  and  on  that  peninsula;  they 
therefore  occupy  the  narrow  part  of  the  con 
tinent  between  the  two  great  oceans.  A  ref 
erence  to  the  map  of  Central  America  will 
aid  the  following  remarks : 

The  River  Montagua  empties  itself  into 
the  Bay  of  Honduras,  at  or  near  Omoa  ;  ap 
proaching  the  source  of  this  river,  it  branches 
off  to  the  south,  which  branch  is  called  Copan 
River  ;  above  the  rapids  of  this  branch  river 
is  situated,  on  the  banks,  the  now  celebrated 
ruined  city  of  Copan,  over  two  miles  in  ex 
tent,  parallel  with  the  stream.  Palenque  is 
nearer  Mexico.  The  ruins  of  Uxmal  are  in 
Yucatan.  From  the  architectural  character 
istics  of  the  edifices,  we  find  no  difficulty  in 
arranging  the  order  of  their  being  built ; 
which,  with  all  due  respect  for  the  opinion 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    85 

of  others,  we  submit  to  be  as  follows,  viz.  : 
first,  the  city  of  Copan,  then  Cholula,  followed 
by  Quirigua,  Tezpan,  Guatemala,  Quiche, 
Gueguetinanga,  Oeosingo,  Mitla,  Palenque, 
and  lastly  Uxmal ;  and  about  the  same  period 
of  building,  the  cities  of  Chi- Chen,  Zayi,  Ka- 
bah,  Espita  and  Ticol — these  being  in  the 
peninsula  of  Yucatan. 

The  ruins  necessary  to  be  described  for  the 
illustration  of  our  present  subject,  will  be 
those  of  Copan,  Palenque,  and  Uxmal,  and 
for  this  purpose  extracts  will  be  quoted  from 
the  lately-published  work  on  Central  Amer 
ica  by  Mr.  Stephens.  These  extracts  will  be 
given  as  unquestionable  authority,  and  the 
engravings  in  the  work  will  be  received  as 
accurate  representations  of  the  ruins,  and 
upon  which  many  of  our  results  have  been 
founded.  On  the  subject  of  their  accuracy, 
the  fascinating  traveler  writes  as  follows : 

"  I  will  only  remark,  that  from  the  begin 
ning  our  great  object  and  effort  was  to  pro 
cure  true  copies  of  the  originals,  adding 


86      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  KELATIONS  OF 

nothing  for  effect  as  pictures.  Mr.  Gather- 
wood  made  the  outline  of  all  the  drawings 
with  the  camera-lucida,  and  divided  his  pa 
per  into  sections,  so  as  to  preserve  the  utmost 
accuracy  of  proportion.  The  engravings 
were  made  with  the  same  regard  to  truth, 
from  drawings  reproduced  by  Mr.  C.  himself, 
the  originals  being  also  in  the  hands  of  the  en 
graver.  Proofs  of  every  plate  were  given  to 
Mr.  C.,  who  made  such  corrections  as  were 
necessary :  and  in  my  opinion,  they  are  as 
true  copies  as  can  be  presented,  and  except 
the  stones  themselves  the  reader  can  not  have 
better  materials  for  speculation  and  study." 

Not  only  the  monuments  in  stone  testify 
to  great  antiquity,  but  also  the  hieroglyphic 
book.  Like  those  of  the  Egyptian,  the  let 
ters  of  the  Mexicans  denoted  either  things  or 
ideas.  They  had  also  phonetic  signs.  There 
is  in  Dresden  a  still  entirely  inexplicable 
hieroglyphic  writing,  which  resembles  only 
the  lapidary  inscription  discovered  in  Pa- 
lenque,  which  Prescott  regards  as  a  phonetic 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.     87 

• 

writing.  This  kind  of  writing  had  attained 
among  the  Mexicans  such  a  degree  of  perfec 
tion  that  even  the  proceedings  at  law  (as  by 
the  Egyptians)  were  recorded  thereby,  and 
under  the  Spanish  government  public  papers 
in  hieroglyphic  writing  long  obtained  a  legal 
value. 

We  have  before  mentioned  (page  64)  the 
lately  discovered  hieroglyphics  in  Taragona. 
Alexander  von  Minutoli  gives  pictures  of 
them.  These  have  certainly  a  similarity  to 
the  Egyptian  ones,  and  in  form  resemble  so 
much  the  Mexican,  that  we  are  compelled  to 
regard  them  as  a  medium  between  the  two 
species  of  hieroglyphics.  The  hieroglyphics 
of  the  ancient  Mexicans  give  us  an  explana 
tion  of  their  tolerably  perfect  chronology. 
They  had  a  solar  year  more  perfect  than  that 
of  the  modern  Europeans  before  the  calendar 
reform.  Like  the  Egyptians,  they  completed 
the  year  by  five  complementary  days,  and  be 
sides  this  intercalated  after  each  cycle  of 
fifty-two  years,  twelve  and  a  half,  or  after  one 


88       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

hundred  and  four  years,  twenty-five  days, 
which  brought  them  almost  to  the  exact 
length  of  the  tropical  year. 

In  the 'same  manner  the  old  Persians,  as 
Alexander  von  Humboldt  affirms,  inserted 
after  the  expiration  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  (each  of  365  days)  a  month  of 
thirty  days.  The  Etruscans  had  correspond 
ing  cycles  of  one  hundred  and  ten  years.  A 
remarkable  conformity  between  the  Egyp 
tian  and  ancient  American  calendar,  lomard 
proved  in  his  letters,  to  which  Alexander 
von  Humboldt  refers  in  his  "  Yues  de  Cor- 
dilleres." 

Still  more  marked  is  the  coincidence  be 
tween  the  oldest  forms  of  government  on  the 
old  and  new  continents. 

It  is  known  that  the  foundation  of  both 
was  a  hierarchy  or  sacerdotal  monarchy.  In 
Peru  as  well  as  in  Egypt  the  king  was  wor 
shipped  as  the  Sun-God.*  In  Mexico  the  no 
bility  possessed  the  greatest  power  after  the 
king.  On  their  vast  estates  they  ruled  over 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    89 

the  peasantry,  who  belonged  to  them.  Sen 
tence  was  pronounced  by  regular  judges,  and 
wholly  independent  courts  of  justice  held  by 
them.  The  priests  shared  this  power.  Of 
these  Prescott  (Yol.  L,  p.  54)  says : 

u  The  sacerdotal  order  was  very  numerous, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  the  statement  that 
five  thousand  priests  were,  in  some  way  or 
other,  attached  to  the  principal  temple  in  the 
capital.  The  various  ranks  and  functions  of 
this  mnltitudinous  body  were  discriminated 
with  great  exactness.  Those  best  instructed 
in  music  took  the  management  of  their  choirs. 
Others  arranged  the  festivals  conformably  to 
the  calendar.  Others  superintended  the 
education  of  the  youth,  and  others  had 
charge  of  the  hieroglyphical  paintings  and 
oral  traditions,  while  the  dismal  rites  of  sac 
rifice  were  reserved  for  the  chief  dignitaries 
of  the  order.  At  the  head  of  the  whole 
establishment  were  two  high-priests,  elected 
from  the  order,  as  it  would  seem,  by  the  king 
and  principal  nobles,  without  reference  to 


90      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

birth,  but  solely  for  their  qualifications  as 
•shown  by  their  previous  conduct  in  a  subor 
dinate  station.  They  were  equal  in  dignity 
and  inferior  only  to  the  sovereign,  who  rarely 
acted  without  their  advice  in  weighty  mat 
ters  of  public  concern. 

"  The  priests  were  each  devoted  to  the  ser 
vice  of  some  particular  deity,  and  had  quar 
ters  provided  within  the  spacious  precincts 
of  their  temple,  at  least  while  engaged  in  im 
mediate  attendance  there — for  they  were 
allowed  to  marry  and  have  families  of  their 
own.  In  this  monastic  residence  they  lived 
in  all  the  stern  severity  of  conventual  disci 
pline.  Thrice  during  the  day  and  once  at 
night  they  were  called  to  prayers.  They 
were  frequent  in  their  ablutions  and  vigils, 
and  mortified  the  flesh  by  fasting  and  cruel 
penance — drawing  blood  from  their  bodies 
by  flagellation  and  piercing  them  with 
the  thorns  of  aloe ;  in  short,  by  prac 
tising  all  those  austerities  to  which  fa 
naticism  (to  borrow  the  strong  language 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    91 

of  the  poet)  lias  resorted  in  every  age 
of  the  world, 

"  '  In  hopes  to  merit  heaven  by  making  earth  a  hell.' 

The  great  cities  were  divided  into  districts, 
placed  under  the  charge  of  a  sort  of  parochial 
clergy,  who  regulated  every  act  of  religion 
within  their  precincts.  It  is  remarkable  that 
they  administered  the  rites  of  confession  and 
absolution.  The  secrets  of  the  confessional 
were  held  inviolable,  and  penances  were  im 
posed  of  much  the  same  kind  as  those  en 
joined  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
There  were  two  remarkable  peculiarities  in 
the  Aztec  ceremony.  The  first  was,  that  as  the 
repetition  of  an  offense,  once  atoned  for,  was 
deemed  inexpiable,  confession  was  made  but 
once  in  a  man's  life,  and  was  usually  deferred 
to  a  late  period  of  it,  when  the  penitent  un 
burdened  his  conscience,  and  settled  at  once 
the  long  arrears  of  iniquity.  Another  pecu 
liarity  was,  that  priestly  absolution  was  re 
ceived  in  place  of  the  legal  punishment  of 


92      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OP 

offenses,  and  authorized  an  acquittal  in  case 
of  arrest.  Long  after  the  conquest  the  sim 
ple  natives,  when  they  came  under  the  arm 
of  the  law,  sought  to  escape  by  producing 
the  certificate  of  their  confession. 

"  One  of  the  most  important  duties  of  the 
priesthood  was  that  of  education,  to  which 
certain  buildings  were  appropriated  within 
the  inclosure  of  the  principal  temple.  Here 
the  youth  of  both  sexes  of  the  higher  and 
middling  orders  were  placed  at  a  very  tender 
age.  The  girls  were  intrusted  to  the  care  of 
priestesses,  for  women  were  allowed  to  ex 
ercise  sacerdotal  functions  except  those  of 
sacrifice.  In  these  institutions  the  boys  were 
drilled  in  the  routine  of  monastic  discipline  ; 
they  decorated  the  shrines  of  the  gods  with 
flowers,  fed  the  sacred  fires,  and  took  part  in 
the  religious  chants  and  festivals.  Those  in 
the  higher  school — the  Calmecan,  as  it  was 
called — were  initiated  in  their  traditionary 
lore,  the  mysteries  of  hieroglyphics,  the  prin 
ciples  of  government,  and  such  branches  of 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  93 

astronomical  and  natural  science  as  were 
within  the  compass  of  priesthood.  The  girls 
learned  various  feminine  employments,  espe 
cially  to  weave  and  embroider  rich  coverings 
for  the  altars  of  the  gods.  Great  attention 
was  paid  to  the  moral  discipline  of  both 
sexes.  The  most  perfect  decorum  prevailed, 
and  offenses  were  punished  with  extreme 
rigor,  in  some  instances  with  death  itself. 
Terror,  not  love,  was  the  spring  of  education 
with  the  Aztecs.  At  a  suitable  age  for  mar 
rying,  or  for  entering  into  the  world,  the  pu 
pils  were  dismissed  with  much  ceremony  from 
the  convent,  and  the  recommendation  of  the 
principal  often  introduced  those  most  compe 
tent  to  responsible  situations  in  public  life. 
Such  was  the  crafty  policy  of  the  Mexican 
priests,  who,  by  reserving  to  themselves  the 
business  of  instruction,  were  enabled  to 
mould  the  young  and  plastic  mind  according 
to  their  own  wills,  and  to  train  it  early  to 
implicit  reverence  for  religion  and  its  minis 
ters  ;  a  reverence  which  still  maintained  its 


94      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

hold  on  the  iron  nature  of  the  warrior,  long 
after  every  other  vestige  of  education  had 
been  effaced  by  the  rough  trade  to  which  he 
was  devoted. 

"  To  each  of  the  principal  temples  lands 
were  annexed  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
priests.  These  estates  were  augmented  by  the 
policy  or  devotion  of  successive  princes,  until 
under  the  last  Montezuma,  they  had  swollen 
to  an  enormous  extent,  and  covered  every 
district  of  the  empire.  The  priests  took  the 
management  of  their  property  into  their  own 
hands,  and  they  seem  to  have  treated  their 
tenants  with  the  liberality  and  indulgence 
characteristic  of  monastic  corporations.  Be 
sides  the  large  supplies  drawn  from  this 
source,  the  religious  order  was  enriched  with 
the  first-fruits,  and  such  other  offerings  as 
piety  or  superstition  dictated.  The  surplus 
beyond  what  was  required  for  the  support  of 
the  national  worship  was  distributed  in  alms 
among  the  poor;  a  duty  strenuously  pre 
scribed  by  their  moral  code.  Thus  we  find 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN   AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  95 

the  same  religion  inculcating  lessons  of  pure 
philanthropy,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  mer 
ciless  extermination  on  the  other.  The  in 
consistency  will  not  appear  incredible  to 
those  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  early  ages  of 
the  Inquisition." 

All  this  agrees  substantially  with  what 
Diodorus,  Herodotus,  and  others,  relate  of 
the  authority,  the  duties,  manners  of  living 
of  the  Egyptian  priests.  There  is  one  differ 
ence,  i.  e.y  the  Mexican  priests  formed  no 
caste.  Therein,  as  in  almost  all  things,  they 
agreed  with  the  Phoenicians  and  Carthagin 
ians,  who  were  likewise  without  any  heredi 
tary  'caste  except  that  of  the  nobility. 

No  greater  difference  exists  in  the  mythol 
ogy.  Stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  idea  that 
the  names  of  the  ancient  American  gods  are 
entirely  different  from  those  of  the  deities  of 
Oriental  antiquity.  It  maybe  proved  that 
this  is  not  exactly  so,  and  even  if  the  con 
formity  had  been  brought  about  by  accident, 


96      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

we  can  demonstrate  that  the  counterproof 
resting  upon  the  pretended  variety  is  not  a 
valid  one. 

The  word  for  God — "  teo" — teot — teotl — 
belongs  to  the  primitive  Indo-Germanic 
tongue,  and  with  other  Aric  constituent 
parts  of  the  ancient  American  languages,  can 
be  traced  also  in  the  above-mentioned  Iranic 
colonies  in  North  Africa  and  Spain.  With 
the  word  "  teo"  many  words  are  com 
pounded — for  instance,  their  holy  book, 
"  teoamoxtli" — the  temple,  "  teocalli,"  etc. 
Their  religion  was  founded,  as  among  all  na 
tions  of  hierarchical  proclivities,  on  the  ado 
ration  of  "  Nature."  They  believed  in  an 
invisible  and  infinite  Spirit,  who  was  wor 
shiped  since  the  oldest  times,  though  not 
by  the  mass  of  the  people.  The  name  of  this 
highest  god  was,  in  the  Mexican  language, 
"Teotl;"  in  the  Nicaraguic,  "  Teot,"  almost 
the  same  with  the  Phoenician  "  Taaut,"  and 
the  Egyptian  "Toit,"  "Teit,"  or  "Tot." 
The  author  Philo  Judseus  regards  the 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  97 

"  Taaut"  as  heaven  or  world,  and  the  author 
Varro  calls  him  "  the  highest  god."  The 
next  deity  among  the  Aztecs  and  Maja  peo 
ple  was  the  goddess  "  Centeotl."  Mr.  Mul- 
ler  describes  her  (p.  491)  in  the  following 
manner :  u  The  Centeotl,  an  old  oracle  deity 
— she  is  the  Ceres  of  the  people,  the  god 
dess  of  maize  at  first,  then,  on  account  of  the 
high  appreciation  of  this  cereal  in  America, 
the  goddess  of  agriculture  generally" — there 
fore  the  deity  of  culture  of  the  aborigines. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  this  god 
dess  of  culture  obtained  a  great  cosmological 
estimation.  She  was  called  plainly  "  Tonca- 
johua" — the  nourisher  of  mankind.  This 
cosmological  appreciation  led  necessarily  to 
a  cosmogonic  origin.  So,  also,  "  Centeotl" 
— the  great  progenitor — was  not  only  the 
goddess  of  humanity,  but  she  was  "  great,  or 
primitive  goddess."  Therefore  Clavigero 
considers  her,  without  reason,  identical  with 
the  goddess  "Tonautzin."  The  best  Spanish 
authors  consider  her  identical  with  u  Teteio- 

5 


98       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

nan" — the  mother  of  gods.  Who  would  not 
be  reminded  hereby  of  the  mother  of  all  the 
gods,  "  Cybele."  With  this  goddess  and 
"  Teteionan,"  the  goddess  "  Taauthe"  (like 
wise  called  mother  of  gods),  was  identical 
among  nations  cognate  to  the  Phoenicians, 
i.  e.,  the  Babylonians.  She  was  represented 
standing  upon  a  lion.  In  Carthage,  "the 
heavenly  origin,"  "  the  mother  of  gods,"  was 
a  goddess  of  Nature,  and  especially  of  rain 
and  procreation.  Like  the  Centeotl  in  Amer 
ica  she  gave  oracles,  which  were  highly  hon 
ored  till  the  victory  of  Christianity.  Centeotl 
is  identical  with  "  Astaroth"  of  the  Phoeni 
cians,  whom  Yarro  calls  "the  goddess  of 
earth,"  and  joins  to  the  heavenly  god 
"  Taautes."  The  sacrifices  offered  to  her 
were  ears  of  corn  and  human  beings.  Hu 
man  sacrifices  were  common  through  the 
whole  of  America,  especially  among  the 
Aztecs. 

As  among  the  ancient  Asatics,  so  also  in 
ancient  America  were  the   moon  (Tona  or 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.     99 

Meztli),  and  the  Sun  (Tonatiuh)  the  chief 
gods.  Corresponding  to  them  are  the  Phoe 
nician  deities  "  Baalmoloch,"  and  Tanais  or 
Tanat.  ,  The  worship  of  the  former  god  is 
notorious  on  account  of  its  abominable  char 
acter.  In  Carthage  and  Phoenicia  were  sta 
tues  of  the  god  "  Moloch,"  of  ore,  having  in 
their  interior  a  large  excavation.  Upon  the 
extended  red-hot  hand  of  the  idol,  children 
were  laid  to  roll  down  into  the  burning 
mouth.  In  1518  the  Spaniards,  under  Juan 
de  Grijalva,  found  in  Central  America  quite 
similar  statues,  erected  for  the  purpose  of 
human  sacrifices.  Humboldt  says  :  "  The 
god  Tonatiuh  is  represented  with  an  opened 
mouth  with  armed  teeth.  This  open  mouth, 
widely  extended  tongue,  remind  us  of  Kala- 
Chronos,  who  swallowed  his  children,  and 
AY  horn  we  recognize  among  the  Phoenicians 
under  the  name  of  Moloch"  Tonatiuh, 
placed  in  the  midst  of  the  signs  of  the  day, 
when  the  year  was  measured  by  the  motions 
of  the  solstices  and  equinox,  is  the  genuine 


100    THE    COINCIDENCES  AND   RELATIONS   OF 

symbol  of  time.  That  Tonatiuh  is  identical 
with  the  Phoenician  "  Moloch"  appears  also 
from  the  fact  that  to  the  one  as  well  as  the 
other  were  stone  columns  erected  (as  symbols 
of  the  ascending  flames)  in  order  to  indicate 
the  position  of  the  "  Sun."  Next  to  the  Sun- 
god  appears  the  "Moon,"  among  the  Phoeni 
cians  and  Carthaginians  as  well  as  on  the 
Antilles.  Among  the  former  nations  it  was 
worshiped  by  the  name  of  Tanat  or  Tanit,  in 
America  by  the  name  of  Tona.  This  close 
verbal  resemblance  between  the  names  is  the 
more  important,  as  Mr.  Mtiller  places  the 
u  Tona"  by  herself  as  a  primitive  goddess  of 
the  Maja  people. 

The  Caribbeans,  who  represented  the  Phoe 
nicians  in  America,  were  a  widely  diffused 
race,  a  vigorous  although  rude  nation.  They 
frequented  all  the  coasts  of  Central  America 
in  large  vessels,  and  even  carried  on  some 
commerce.  They  possessed  a  whiter  skin 
and  nobler  features  than  most  of  the  other 
aborigines.  This  was,  perhaps,  in  conse- 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  101 

quence  of  a  mingling  of  Semites  with  the 
aborigines  of  the  Guarani  race  (an  afterward 
degenerated  nation).  This  race  believed  in 
a  supreme  god,  u  Chemun"  or  "  Chemeen," 
of  whom  it  is  related  that  he  destroyed 
his  worshipers  by  a  deluge  because  they 
offered  him  only  meagre  sacrifices.  This 
fact  likens  him  to  the  Phoenician  Baal-Cham- 
man,  whom  Philo  calls  "  Pontus,"  or  god  of 
the  ocean. 

By  no  other  nation,  not  even  by  the  an 
cient  Egyptians,  were  the  dreams  of  the 
astrologer  so  blindly  relied  upon.  He  was 
immediately  called  in  at  the  birth  of  a  child. 
The  time  of  the  event  was  accurately  ascer 
tained,  and  the  family  was  waiting  with  trem 
bling  attention,  while  the  servant  of  heaven 
unfolded  the  destiny  of  the  infant  from  the 
dark  book  of  fate.  Who  does  not  call  to 
mind  here  the  astrology  of  the  Chaldeans 
and  the  later  Asiatics  ? 

As  with  us  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  bear  the 
names  of  animals,  so  also  in  ancient  America. 


102    THE    COINCIDENCES   AND   RELATIONS   OF 

The  Great  Bear  was  known  among  the  In 
dians  by  the  very  same  name. 

The  worship  of  animals  has  always  been 
combined  with  the  worship  of  the  stars. 
Ever  since  the  names  of  animals  were  given  to 
the  stars,  the  veneration  of  these  has  been 
transferred  to  the  animals  diffused  over  all 
parts  of  ancient  America. 

Very  remarkable  it  is,  that  on  both  conti 
nents  almost  the  same  animals  were  consid 
ered  sacred.  In  America  the  Ape  was  ven 
erated,  as  it  was  among  the  Carthaginians. 
The  Scorpion,  the  Eagle,  the  Lion,  the 
Bear,  as  in  nearly  all  ancient  Asia.  On  both 
continents  the  gods  were  represented  with 
heads  of  animals.  In  Egypt  "  Toit,"  with  that 
of  a  sparrowhawk.  The  Phoenician  "Moloch" 
with  that  of  an  ox  ;  and  among  the  Mexicans 
the  god  of  war,  "  Huitzilipochtli,"  bore  the 
head  of  a  sparrow.  The  Serpent  was  espe 
cially  venerated.  The  mythologies  of  both 
continents  embrace  a  multitude  of  serpentine 
gods.  Among  the  Egyptians  the  "  Kneph ;" 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  103 

among  the  Aztecs  the  "Coatlicon;"  among 
the  Olemians  "Mixcoatl,"  their  principal 
god.  aWotan,"  of  whom  we  shall  speak 
hereafter,  had  a  serpentine  body  and  hawk's 
head,  like  "Kneph"  and  "  Agathodemon." 

There  are  numerous  monuments  of  a  prim 
itive  civilization,  which  perished  long  ago, 
scattered  over  America  in  the  form  of  ani 
mals.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these 
is  a  mound  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  which  An- 
dree  describes  in  the  following  manner : 

u  In  Adams  county,  Ohio,  stands,  near  the 
Brush  Creek,  on  a  hill  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  a  large  mound 
of  a  snake-like  appearance,  the  head  on  one 
end  of  the  elevation,  the  body  wound  in  a 
pleasing  manner,  having  a  length  of  seven 
hundred  feet,  the  end  of  the  tail  in  a  three 
fold  curl.  The  mouth  is  wide  open,  before 
and  partially  in  it  lies  an  oblong  figure  re 
sembling  an  egg."  This  mysterious  monu 
ment  can  only  be  explained  and  accounted 
for  in  the  light  of  Oriental  antiquity.  The 


104      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

Egyptians  and  Phoenicians  believed  that  the 
world  proceeded  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
creator,  and  was  symbolized  by  them  as  an 
egg.  The  American  hill  represents,  there 
fore,  nothing  else  than  the  creation  of  the 
world.  The  world-snake  was  called  among 
the  Egyptians  "  Kneph,"  by  which  they  also 
meant  the  galaxy,  which,  like  a  boa-con 
strictor,  embraces  the  celestial  globe.  Be 
side  the  galaxy  appears  also  the  constellation 
of  the  dragon,  clasping  the  heavens  as  a  sign 
of  the  serpentine  worship.  The  snake  signi 
fied,  symbolically,  Time.  Among  the  Egyp 
tians  Sevac,  or  Chronos,  was  represented  as 
a  snake,  and  was  sometimes  called  "Da- 
haka,"  which  means  a  serpent.  It  is  remark 
able  that  with  the  Mexicans,  also,  the  hiero 
glyphic  sign  for  the  idea  of  Time  was  a 
snake. 

The  American  aborigines,  like  the  nations 
of  the  old  world,  held  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  They  believed  in  a 
future  condition  of  joy,  and  also  in  an  infe- 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  105 

rior  state,  where  souls  wandered  through 
strange  constellations  or  lived  in  bodies 
either  of  noble  or  common  animals,  ruled  by 
governors  both  male  and  female. 

Our  frequent  references  have  already- 
shown  that  the  similarity  of  the  American 
and  Oriental  antiquities  has  not  remained 
unperceived.  It  strikes  even  those  who 
agree  with  those  scholars,  Muller  and  An- 
dree,  whom  we  have  often  quoted,  who  per 
tinaciously  maintain  the  dogma  of  the  indig 
enous  origin  of  the  American  culture.  They, 
however,  find  the  cause  of  that  conformity 
in  the  unity  of  the  human  race  and  the  com 
mon  nature  of  the  human  spirit.  This  the 
ory  we  believe  to  have  been  refuted. 

One  can  readily  conceive  that  the  venera 
tion  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  the  whole  order 
of  nature,  might  have  originated  and  existed 
with  nations  having  no  connection  with  each 
other;  that  these  nations  might  indepen 
dently  have  given  names  of  animals  to  con 
stellations,  and  have  had  hieroglyphic  and 


106      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

phonetic  writings — but  we  can  not  under 
stand  why,  by  reason  of  mere  unity  of  the 
race  and  the  common  origin  of  human  spirit, 
the  gods  in  America  and  Asia  should  bear 
the  very  same  names,  the  constellations  be 
represented  by  the  very  same  animals,  and 
the  serpent  be  the  symbol  of  Time  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Mr.  Miiller  repeats  an  account,  according 
to  which  the  companions  of  Juan  de  Gri- 
jalva,  in  1518,  found  a  marble  lion  on  an 
island,  to  which  were  offered  fumigations  and 
human  sacrifices;  he  forgets,  however,  that 
in  Central  America  there  are  no  lions,  and 
that  in  South  America  there  exists  only  a 
single  species  of  lions,  i.  e.,  the  Pumas,  which 
still  more  resemble  cats  than  the  lions  of  the 
old  continent.  It  is  well  known,  however, 
that  the  lion  among  all  people  of  the  hie 
rarchical  period,  especially  among  the  Phoe 
nicians  and  Carthaginians,  was  very  highly 
honored.  These  legends  belong  partly  to 
the  oldest  period  of  the  ancient  traditions  of 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   107 

mankind,  and  became,  as  it  frequently  is 
with  traditions,  connected  with  their  local 
legends ;  partly  they  are  certain  reports  of 
ancient  immigrations  from  a  far  country  be 
yond  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  well-known  Greek  myth  of  the  Son  of 
Apollo  setting  the  globe  on  fire  by  mis- 
driving  his  father's  chariot,  symbolizes  a  dis 
turbance  of  the  constellations,  which,  accord 
ing  to  their  idea,  revolved  around  the  earth, 
and  a  consequent  destruction  of  the  world  by 
fire.  The  Greeks  had  also  a  tradition  of  the 
ocean  deities  sweeping  it  with  a  deluge. 
Among  all  the  nations  of  the  old  world  we 
find  like  beliefs,  and  also  the  one  concerning 
the  four  periods  of  the  world.  In  America 
we  meet  with  them  likewise.  The  Etrus 
cans,  Persians,  and  East  Indians  considered 
these  periods  to  be  of  three  thousand  years' 
duration. 

Humboldt  gives,  in  his  "  Yues  des  Cordil- 
leres  et  Monumens  des  peuples  indigenes 
de  I'Amerique"  (Paris,  1810),  the  duration 


108    THE   COINCIDENCES   AND    RELATIONS   OF 

of  the  world  as  18,028  years,  divided 
into  four  cycles.  The  first  cycle,  or  the  age 
of  giants,  of  5,206  years;  the  second  cycle, 
or  the  age  of  fire,  of  4,804 ;  the  third  cycle, 
or  the  age  of  winds,  of  4,010 ;  the  fourth 
cycle,  or  the  age  of  water,  of  4,008. 

The  Mexican  tradition  of  the  deluge  says : 
"  The  grandfather  of  Wotan  saved  himself 
and  his  family  in  a  boat,  and  afterward  his 
grandson,  Wotan,  assisted  in  the  erection  of 
a  huge  building  by  which  it  was  proposed  to 
reach  heaven.  This  scheme  was  interrupted. 
Each  family  took  a  different  language,  and 
the  Great  Spirit  commanded  Wotan  to  go  to 
Auahuak  (Mexico)  and  people  it."  Here 
we  have  the  exact  Biblical  account. 

Humboldt  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  that 
Buddha  in  the  Indian — Wodansday  in  Ger 
many — both  denote  the  first  day  of  a  small 
period,  (week),  and  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Chiapa  the  Wednesday  (after  Wotan)  was 
the  first  day  of  a  cycle  of  five  days. 

The  Indian  Buddha  and  the  German  Wodan 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   109 

bear  a  similar  relation  to  the  deluge  with 
that  of  the  Mexican  Wotan.  The  German 
Wodan  himself  caused  the  deluge  by  slaying 
a  giant  whose  blood  overflowed  the  world. 
The  Indian  Buddha  is  the  son  of  Manu,  who, 
with  the  seven  Rishis,  escaped  in  a  vessel. 
This  legend  resembles  the  American  one 
mentioned  by  Humboldt.  He  tells  us :  "  The 
people  were  metamorphosed  into  fish,  ex 
cept  seven  who  fled  into  caverns.  When 
the  waters  disappeared  one  of  these  giants, 
named  Xelhua — the  architect — went  to  Cho- 
lula,  where  he  erected  for  a  memorial  on  the 
mountain  Tlaloc,  that  had  served  him  and 
his  companions  as  a  refuge,  an  artificial  hill 
of  pyramidal  form.  He  caused  bricks  to  be 
made  in  the  province  of  Tlamanalca,  and  in 
order  to  transport  them  to  Cholula  placed  a 
row  of  men  between  these  places,  who  passed 
them  from  hand  to  hand.  The  gods  saw  with 
anger  this  building,  which  was  intended  to 
reach  to  heaven,  and  threw  fire  upon  it.  Many 
laborers  perished,  and  for  the  future  it  was 


110    THE   COINCIDENCES   AND   RELATIONS   OF 

consecrated  to  the  god  of  air,  Quetzalcoatl." 
According  to  the  tradition  of  Edda  (a  col 
lection  of  poems  exhibiting  the  Runic  or 
Scandinavian  mythology,  philosophy,  etc.), 
all  the  giants  of  primitive  times  were 
drowned  in  the  blood  of  the  Ymir,  except 
Bergelmir,  who  was  saved  in  a  chest.  We 
have  here  as  well  as  in  Mexico  giants  flour 
ishing  at  the  time  of  the  deluge.  The  giants 
who  escaped,  Bergelmir  and  Xelhua,  show 
even  similarity  of  name,  as  "  gelmir"  is  a 
word  by  itself,  signifying  "ancient."  In  the 
tradition  of  Cholula,  Xelhua  rears  the  gigan 
tic  building  with  Wotan  for  his  assistant. 
In  like  manner,  the  Germanic  Wodan  builds 
after  the  deluge  the  god's  castle  "  Asgard" 
from  the  eyebrows  of  the  slain  giant.  The- 
coincidence  of  the  number  seven  of  the  per 
sons  saved  with  the  seven  "Rishis"  of  the 
Indian  legend,  is  also  very  striking.  Such 
manifold  analogies  certainly  can  not  arise 
from  mere  accident.  In  fine,  without  dis 
torting  the  most  simple  and  undeniable  facts 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    Ill 

we  can  not  deny  the  identity  of  the  Ameri 
can  Wotan  with  the  German  Wodan  and  the 
Indian  Buddha.  They  agree, 

1.  In  name. 

2.  In  giving  a  name  to  a  day  of  the  week. 

3.  In  their  connection  with  the  great  del 
uge. 

4.  In  assisting  in  the  the  erection  of  mag 
nificent  buildings  after  its  subsidence. 

Lastly — Being  genealogic  chiefs. 

It  is  known  that  from  the  Indian  Buddha 
the  whole,  so  named,  moon  sect  was  derived. 
In  Germany  princes  and  nobles  boasted  of 
their  descent  from  Wodan ;  and  in  America 
there  existed,  even  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
professed  descendants  of  Wotan.  In  the  dis 
cussion  of  the  Indian  word  "Teo"  for  God, 
we  called  attention  to  a  possible  origin  of 
various  Aric  elements  in  the  language  and 
culture  of  ancient  America  from  Aric  colo 
nies  of  Northern  Africa,  mentioned  by  Sal- 
lust  and  others.  The  religious  myths  indi 
cate,  also,  a  Phoenician  origin. 


112       THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

• 

Traditions  of  the  deluge  are  common  to 
both  continents.  The  European  discoverers 
of  America  met  them  everywhere.  Even 
the  wild  hordes  of  the  Iroquois  and  Ojibe- 
ways  preserved  a  tradition  of  a  great  flood, 
in  which  the  Great  Spirit  had  destroyed  all 
the  human  race  except  a  single  family. 
Among  these  legends  is  one  especially  re 
markable,  of  which  Mr.  Muller  gives  the  fol 
lowing  abstract :  "  The  ancient  nation  of 
Nahuatlacs,  denominated  as  Tezpi  (their 
Noah)  him  who  escaped  the  deluge.  Ac 
cording  to  them  he  filled  his  boat  with  vari 
ous  animals.  As  the  waters  decreased  he 
sent  out  a  vulture,  which  did  not  return,  be 
cause  it  found  nourishment  in  the  corpses  of 
the  giants.  Afterward  he  sent  a  humming 
bird,  who  came  back  with  a  twig  in  his 
beak."  The  resemblance  of  this  legend  to 
the  Asiatic  ones  appears  clearly.  Of  those 
of  the  Phoenicians  we  know  little  but  that 
they  were  analogous  to  those  of  the  cognate 
Jews  and  Babylonians.  As  we  have  seen, 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   113 

legends  of  both  continents  assert  the  erection 
after  the  deluge  of  a  great  tower.  The 
Babylonian  one,  Alexander  Eratosthenes,  the 
poly  historian,  relates  in  this  way :  "  All  the 
people  assembled  and  built  a  great  tower  in 
order  to  ascend  to  heaven.  The  Almighty 
God  however  destroyed  the  tower  by  storms, 
and  allotted  to  every  man  a  different  lan 
guage,  for  which  reason  their  city  was  called 
Babylon." 

We  have  already  narrated  the  Mexican 
legend,  according  to  which  the  giant  Xelhua 
having  reared  the  great  pyramid  of  Cholula 
in  order  to  reach  heaven,  the  gods  became 
enraged  at  his  audacity,  threw  fire  upon  his 
work,  and  gave  to  each  human  family  a  sep 
arate  language.  In  connection  with  this  must 
be  remembered  the  similarity  of  the  pyra 
midal  temple,  which  we  must  believe  to  be 
the  tower  mentioned  by  the  polyhistorian, 
and  to  which  the  Mexican  pyramids,  espe 
cially  those  of  Cholula,  had  the  greatest  sim 
ilarity. 


114    THE   COINCIDENCES  AND    RELATIONS   OF 

The  most  important,  however,  of  the 
American  traditions  are  those  which  speak 
distinctly  of  an  immigration  from  the  East. 
Mr.  Jones  says  :  "  The  Spanish  historian,  Sa- 
hagan,  who  lived  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
aborigines  for  sixty  years,  and  wrote  only 
fifteen  years  after  the  Cortezian  conquest,  re 
lates,  on  the  authority  of  Montezuma,  who 
gave  the  tradition  as  from  the  remotest  times 
— it  was  also  proved  by  historical  paintings 
— that  their  ancestors,  as  a  colony,  first 
touched  at  Florida,  then  crossed  or  coasted 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  Yucatan,  and  finally 
landed  and  settled  somewhere  on  the  shores 
of  the  Bay  of  Honduras."  The  same  author, 
moreover,  writes :  u  The  wreck  of  an  ancient 
galley  has  been  found  in  Mexican  America, 
deeply  imbedded  in  the  sands.  Now,  this 
must  have  been  the  remains  of  a  Phoenician 
vessel,  for  the  Greeks  and  Romans  had  no 
galleys  on  the  Atlantic  waters,  or  even  the 
Indian  Ocean,  until  the  time  of  Alexander, 
but  the  Tyrians  had,  and  nearly  one  thousand 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  115 

years  before  the  Christian  era."  The  ancient 
Americans  were  very  modest  in  regard  to 
their  intellectual  possessions,  for  they  did  not 
pretend  to  have  acquired  their  culture  by 
themselves,  but  on  the  contrary,  positively 
affirmed  that  they  owed  it  to  foreigners  of 
white  complexion.  Since  the  Indians,  like 
the  Moguls,  are  copper-colored,  their  obliga 
tion  to  immigrants  of  the  Caucasian  race  is 
plainly  expressed  by  this  story.  Mr.  Muller 
gives  the  Peruvian  tradition  as  follows : 

"  In  the  beginning  men  lived  as  barba 
rians,  without  law  and  social  order,  or  desire 
for  other  nourishment  than  that  which  Na 
ture  offered.  The  Sun  had  pity  on  people 
in  this  miserable  condition,  and  sent  two  of 
his  children,  Manco  Capac  (Capac  signified 
great  or  powerful)  and  his  sister  Mamma 
Oello,  to  introduce  civilization  and  the  wor 
ship  of  the  Sun  among  them.  A  golden 
perch  was  to  go  before  Manco  and  his  sister 
and  enter  into  the  ground  at  their  proper 
place  of  residence.  The  perch  pointed  out 


116      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

the  region  of  Cuzco,  a  place  whose  name 
signifies  l  navel.'  After  this  Manco  Capac 
and  Mamma  Oello  went  out  in  all  directions, 
ordered  the  worship  of  the  Sun,  abolished 
human  sacrifices  and  cannibalism,  and  per 
suaded  the  wild  hordes  to  accept  civilization, 
to  study  the  arts  and  sciences,  to  enter  into 
matrimony,  to  establish  laws,  build  cities  and 
villages,  make  roads  and  aqueducts,"  etc. 
Montesinos,  a  distinguished  antiquarian  who 
lived  fifteen  years  in  Peru,  puts  Manco  Capac 
in  the  most  ancient  times,  while  others  fix 
upon  the  eleventh  century  as  the  period  of 
his  flourishing.  The  opinion  of  Montesinos, 
however,  is  confirmed  by  numerous  monu 
ments. 

The  legend  of  the  Muyscas,  on  the  table 
land  of  Bogota,  relating  to  this  runs  thus : 
u  In  the  first  times,  when  the  moon  did  not 
yet  exist,  the  people  of  Muyscas  were  barba 
rians,  without  agriculture,  without  religion, 
without  manners,  without  government.  Then 
appeared  a  bearded  and  very  aged  man  from 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   117 

the  East  who  had  three  names,  'Bochica,' 
4  Namquethala,'  and i  Zuhe,'  and  three  heads. 
He  taught  the  barbarians  how  to  wear 
clothes,  how  to  cultivate  the  fields,  how  to 
worship  gods,  how  to  form  states." 

The  belief  in  an  immigration  of  foreigners 
from  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  as  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  conquest  was  so  common 
among  the  Mexicans,  that  it  even  exerted  a 
great  influence  on  the  destruction^  of  their 
empire  at  that  time,  for  they  believed  the 
Spaniards  to  be  the  descendants  of  the  hero 
"  Quetzalcoatl,"  come  again  to  claim  their 
own.  He  was  a  white  and  bearded  man 
from  the  East,  like  the  Bochica  of  the  Muys- 
cas,  a  lawgiver,  and  high-priest  at  Tula.  Af 
ter  having  governed  for  a  long  time  in  Tula, 
and  then  in  Cholula,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
time  of  his  rule  was  remembered  by  the  peo 
ple  of  AnahiJak  as  the  golden  age,  he  em 
barked  at -the  mouth  of  the  Goazocoalcos 
River  (which  still  forms  the  single  safe 
harbor  on  the  Mexican  coast)  and  departed 


118      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

with  the  promise  to  return  one  clay  with  his 
descendants. 

Prescott  says  :  "  That  day  was  looked  for 
ward  to  with  hope  or  with  apprehension, 
according  to  the  interest  of  the  believer,  but 
with  general  confidence  throughout  the  wide 
borders  of  Anahuak." 

Just  at  the  time  of  Montezuma  this  convic 
tion  was  strengthened  by  preternatural  signs 
— the  appearance  of  comets,  the  conflagra 
tion  of  a  temple,  the  overflow  of  the  great 
lake  of  Tezcuco,  etc.  Fernando  Cortez  made 
use  of  this  belief  with  great  ingenuity.  The 
white  skin  of  his  followers,  their  long  beards, 
the  thunder  and  lightning  in  their  hands,  and 
especially  their  arrival  in  wonderful  vessels 
from  countries  beyond  the  ocean,  so  strength 
ened  even  Montezuma  in  the  opinion  of  their 
descent  from  Quetzalcoatl,  that  he,  thus  far 
the  sovereign  master  of  the  ricftest  and  most 
beautiful  empire  of  the  continent,  yielded 
almost  voluntarily  to  Cortez.  During  his  in 
terview  with  the  Spaniard  he  himself  said  to 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   119 

him :  "  We  know  through  our  books  that 
our  ancestors  were  not  aborigines,  but  were 
led  here  by  a  great  Being  who  afterward 
withdrew  to  the  regions  of  the  sunrise. 
When  he  returned  to  seek  those  who  had 
settled  here,  he  found  them  married  to  the 
women  of  this  country,  having  a  numerous 
posterity  and  living  in  cities  built  by  them 
selves.  They  did  not  wish  longer  to  obey 
their  former  master,  and  he  departed  alone ; 
but  we  have  always  trusted  that  his  descend 
ants  would  come  to  assume  his  empire.  As 
you  come  from  the  Orient,  I  can  not  doubt 
that  the  king  who  has  sent  you  is  our  natural 
lord." 

These  words  one  may  compare  with  the 
passages  of  Plutarch,  which  we  again  quote 
(page  22). 

§  5.  "On  the  continent  Hellenians  live 
around  the  bay  which  is  not  smaller  than  the 
Palus  Maeotis  (Sea  of  Azof.) 

§  6.  "  They  believe  that  the  attendants  of 
Hercules  had  allied  themselves  with  the  peo- 


120   THE    COINCIDENCES   AND   RELATIONS   OF 

pie  of  Chronos,  and  had  reinflamed,  invigo 
rated,  and  enlarged  the  Greek  character, 
which  had  been  almost  extirpated  by  barba 
rian  language,  laws,  and  manner  of  living. 
Therefore  Hercules  has  the  greatest  honors, 
but  Chronos  the  next." 

Here  are  two  accounts  of  the  same  matter 
coming  from  two  different  nations  separated 
by  a  space  of  more  than  fourteen  hundred 
years.  Both  speak  of  America  as  before  in 
habited,  and  as  having  been  taken  possession 
of  by  a  nation  coming  from  the  East.  Both 
mention  a  great  chieftain  of  the  colonists, 
whom  Plutarch  calls  "Hercules."  Hercules 
left  behind  his  companions  on  the  western 
continent  as  the  Mexican  hero  left  the  fore 
father  of  Montezuma.  According  to  Plu 
tarch,  the  companions  of  Hercules  mingled 
with  a  so-called  nation  of  Chronos,  and 
revived  a  rapidly  declining  culture.  Ac 
cording  to  the  Mexicans,  the  chief  of 
the  emigrants  on  his  return  found  his  peo 
ple  married  to  the  women  of  the  coun- 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  121 

try,  with  numerous  descendants  in  cities 
built  by  themselves. 

This  perfect  coincidence  determines  the 
truth  of  both  traditions.  Plutarch's  gulf,  not 
smaller  than  the  Palus  Maeotis,  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  continent  tallies  exactly  with 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  We  said  already  that 
those  settlers  called  Greeks  by  Plutarch  were 
undoubtedly  another  race. 

It  is  especially  remarkable  that  both  tradi 
tions  assert  not  only  a  discovery  of  America, 
but  also  a  colozination,  which  agrees  with  the 
proved  similarity  of  the  systems  of  culture 
of  the  old  and  new  continents,  and  with  the 
typical  affinity  of  many  American  nations 
with  the  Semitic  race.  The  Phoenicians  alone 
must  not  be  considered  in  this  connection, 
but  also  the  remaining  people  on  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean ;  as,  for  instance,  the 
Etruscans  (who  are  mentioned  by  Strabo  in 
relating  the  Great  Atlantic  discovery),  and 
especially  the  Spaniards.  Not  to  speak  of 

the  hieroglyphics  discovered  in  Tarragona, 

6 


122    THE   COINCIDENCES  AND    RELATIONS   OF 

already  mentioned  (page  64),  we  notice  the 
similarity  of  the  development  of  the  Basque 
language  to  that  of  the  American  original 
languages,  to  which  Yater  refers  in  "Mith- 
ridates,  oder  allgemeine  Sprachenkunde" 
(Berlin,  1812),  and  which  is  spoken  in  the 
Spanish  Basque  provinces  Alava,  Guipuscoa, 
and  Biscaya. 

From  the  eleventh  till  near  the  seventh 
century  B.C.,  the  greater  part  of  Spain  was  a 
province  of  Tyre,  whose  merchants  ruled 
there  as  the  English  once  did  in  India.  To 
this,  the  most  prosperous  period  of  Phoeni 
cian  power,  is  to  be  referred,  according  to 
the  intimations  of  Diodorus,  the  ancient  dis 
covery  of  America.  The  Carthaginian  dis 
covery  of  which  Aristotle  speaks  can  conse 
quently  be  understood  as  induced  by  the  rec 
ollection  of  the  first  discovery.  This  is  not 
to  be  dated  later  than  the  sixth  century  B.C. 
At  that  time  the  power  of  the  Etruscans  de 
creased  very  much,  and  the  country  now 
called  Cisalpine  Gaul,  which  had  belonged 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  123 

entirely  to  them,  was  conquered  by  the 
Gauls.  By  the  same  nation,  perhaps,  their 
dominion  in  Spain  was  destroyed.  Since  the 
pouring  of  such  a  mass  of  Celts  into  Spain 
and  Italy  was  doubtless  followed  by  the  flight 
of  many  of  the  former  inhabitants,  an  immi 
gration  on  their  part  to  a  far  western  coun 
try  is  rendered  at  least  probable.  Some  such 
measure  was  almost  a  necessity  after  the 
over-populating  of  the  countries  near  the 
Mediterranean  Sea. 

The  statement  of  Diodorus  is  also  worthy 
of  note,  that  the  Carthaginians  had  intended, 
in  case  of  a  great  misfortune,  to  emigrate  to 
that  island.  Perhaps  the  story  of  Plutarch 
concerning  the  American  who  visited  the 
eastern  continent  and  remained  for  a  long 
time  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  so  far  as 
it  deserves  any  consideration,  may  refer  to  a 
descendant  of  such  an  emigrant  Cartha 
ginian. 

"We  now  turn  to  examine  briefly  several 
arguments  against  an  immigration  to  America. 


124      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OP 

The  most  prominent  is  the  great  variety  of 
languages  showing  no  similarity  with  the 
known  elements  of  tongues,  and  having 
substantial  differences  among  themselves. 
The  Basque  language  forms  only  an  isolated 
exception.  There  are  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  languages  spoken  on  the  globe,  enume 
rated  by  a  philologist,  and  four  hundred  and 
twenty-three  of  them  were  counted  in  Amer 
ica.  The  American  languages  are,  however, 
far  from  having  been  completely  investigated, 
and  the  investigation  loses  much  of  its  im 
portance  in  consequence  of  the  tradition  that 
at  the  time  of  the  Phoenician  settlement  in 
America  there  were  already  inhabitants  there. 
That  the  language  of  these  primitive  people 
would  gain  the  superiority  in  the  amalgama 
tion  is  the  easier  to  believe  as,  according  to 
Plutarch  and  Montezuma,  the  immigrants 
having  no  women  married  the  aboriginal 
women.  The  children  of  these  marriages 
would  incline  to  the  language  of  their  moth 
ers  rather  than  to  that  of  their  fathers,  as 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  125 

may  be  observed  in  our  day.  At  the  pres 
ent  time  in  America,  the  European  lan 
guages  are  frequently  subdued  by  the  Indian 
— the  Spanish  in  Bolivia  and  Peru,  the  Por 
tuguese  in  San  Paolo  by  the  indigenous  Gu- 
arani.  Besides,  even  Plutarch  says  (page 
22,  par.  6),  that  the  attendants  of  Hercules 
mingled  themselves  with  the  people  of  Chro- 
nos,  and  being  left  behind,  inflamed,  invigo 
rated,  and  enlarged  again  the  Greek  charac 
ter,  which  had  been  almost  extinguished  by 
barbarian  language,  laws,  and  manners  of 
living.  Other  arguments  are  drawn  from  the 
Indian  ignorance  of  iron  and  draught  ani 
mals.  But  throughout  the  ancient  world 
iron  was  little  used,  and  in  its  place  were 
employed  copper  and  the  more  precious 
metals.  Domestic  animals  were  not  easily  to 
be  conveyed  in  the  vessels  of  the  ancients 
across  the  ocean.  America  possesses  only 
two  original  kinds  of  cattle,  the  u  bison"  and 
the  "musk  ox,"  which  are  brought  under 
the  yoke  with  great  difficulty,  and  in  spite 


126    THE   COINCIDENCES  AND   RELATIONS   OP 

of  the  luxuriance  of  pasture  yield  but  little 
milk.  Finally,  it  is  urged  that  when  a  sav 
age  and  a  civilized  race  are  brought  face  to 
face  in  a  country,  the  former  may  be  crushed 
or  melt  away  before  the  latter,  but  never  be 
comes  civilized.  But  we  must  remember 
the  great  distinction  between  the  Europeans 
of  our  day,  who,  by  reason  of  their  too  high 
culture,  have  lost  the  ability  to  treat  barba 
rians  in  the  proper  way,  and  these  hierarchi 
cal  nations  of  antiquity. 

According  to  the  Indian  traditions,  it  was 
priests  who  brought  them  their  culture,  and  the 
example  of  the  Jesuitical  state,  "Paraguay," 
furnishes  us  proof  from  modern  history  that 
through  the  influence  of  priests  barbarians 
have  been  known  to  acquire  civilization. 
Besides,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  adopt 
the  opinion  that  at  the  "time  of  the  arrival  of 
the  Phoenicians  only  savages  existed  in  Amer 
ica.  There  are  no  objections  to  the  theory 
of  a  prior  immigration  of  the  semi-cultivated 
Eastern  Asiatics  of  the  Mongolian  race. 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  127 

The  people  of  ancient  America  and  their 
culture  offer  among  themselves  such  varie 
ties,  that  the  adoption  of  a  theory  of  several 
immigrations  from  various  regions  of  the 
world  does  not  so  much  create  as  solve  diffi 
culties.  Gutzlaff,  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Chinese  Empire,"  says,  that  just  as  a  few 
years  ago  some  miserable  Japanese  dshunk- 
ens,  without  oars  or  masts,  were  thrown  by 
a  storm  upon  the  coast  of  California,  so  it 
could  also  have  happened  thousands  of  years 
ago.  Chinese  annals,  at  the  time  of  the  Em 
peror  "  Shihoangti"  (the  builder  of  the  great 
wall,  246-210  B.C.),  tell  of  islands  far  away 
in  the  ocean,  on  which  grows  the  herb  of 
immortality  ;  and  a  few  years  ago  the 
Chinese  interpreter  in  San  Francisco,  a  Mr. 
James  Hanley,  published  in  the  journal  "  The 
True  Union,"  extracts  translated  from  Chi 
nese  histories,  concerning  a  vast  country  by 
the  name  of  "Fusang,"  lying  twenty  thou 
sand  leagues  east  of  Japan,  beyond  the  great 
ocean,  and  of  which  accounts  were  brought 


128      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

in  459  by  five  mendicant  friars,  who  had  vis 
ited  it  and  distributed  Buddhistic  tracts  and 
pictures  among  the  inhabitants.  The  de 
scriptions  of  the  Chinese  historians  agree  re 
markably  with  those  of  the  Spanish  conquer 
ors,  both  in  regard  to  the  state  of  the  country 
and  of  the  culture.  Mr.  Hanley  directs 
attention  to  the  similarity  of  many  Chinese 
words  to  Indian  ones — as  Nang-hand,  in  In 
dian  Nanga;  Keok-foot,  in  Indian  Keoka; 
Yuet-moon,  in  Indian  Yueta;  Yat,  sun,  in 
Indian  Yeeta;  Azpa,  father — Ama,  mother 
— in  Indian  also  Azpa  and  Ama.  Prescott 
maintains  for  the  Mexican  people  called 
Othomies  or  Othomi  (from  "  otho,"  stationary, 
and  "mi,"  nothing),  a  similarity  of  language 
with  the  Chinese. 

The  most  prominent  proofs,  however, 
Alexander  von  Humboldt  draws  from  the 
mode  of  culture  of  ancient  America.  The 
Aztecs  called,  for  instance,  days  and  years 
after  the  same  animals  whose  names  are 
applied  to  the  zodiac.  This  use  of  the 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.   129 

names  of  animals  was  current  in  Eastern 
Asia. 

Prescott  says  here  :  <c  A  correspondence 
quite  as  extraordinary  is  found  between  the 
hieroglyphics  used  by  the  Aztecs  as  signs  of 
the  days,  and  those  zodiacal  signs  which  the 
Eastern  Asiatics  employed."  We  call  the 
attention  of  the  reader  to  an  extract  of  Jones' 
"  History  of  Ancient  America,"  proving  that 
the  Mexican  aborigines  were  originally  from 
the  Tyrians.  He  says,  in  Yol.  I,  pages 
200-203 : 

"  The  following  powerful  analogies  prove 
that  the  Mexican  aborigines  were  originally 
from  the  Tyrians.  The  summary  is  as  fol 
lows,  viz. :  Religious  idolatry ;  the  worship 
of,  and  sacrifice  of  human  lives  to  the  god  of 
war ;  the  worship  of  Saturn,  and  consequent 
infanticide  to  propitiate  the  remorseless  de 
ity  ;  the  long  cross  (and  others)  of  the  god 
dess  Astarte  ;  in  the  sculpture  ;  the  sacrifice 
to  Hygeia  by  optional  circumcision;  the 
chief  worship  of  Apollo  or  the  sun  ;  the  gor- 

6* 


130      THE  COINCIDENCES  AND  RELATIONS  OF 

geous  temples  erected  to  his  glory ;  human 
sacrifices  upon  the  dedication  of  the  temples, 
and  the  sacred  fire  guarded  by  the  virgins 
of  the  sun ;  the  comparative  mummies  of  the 
Tyrian  Isles  and  Peru  ;  the  traditional  story 
concerning  swans;  the  tortoise  and  serpent 
in  sculpture ;  the  dye-shell  or  purple  murex ; 
navigation,  with  its  attendant  maps  and 
charts ;  the  aborigines  coming  from  the  East 
and  by  navigation ;  their  landing  or  touch 
ing  at  Florida  and  before  the  Christian  era ; 
then  the  discovery  of  a  wreck  of  a  Tyrian 
galley;  the  knowledge  of  painting  and  the 
general  application  of  colors  and  gem  engrav 
ing  ;  (as  the  sculpture  contains  only  hiero 
glyphics  and  not  one  cypher  or  letter,  conse 
quently  the  spoken  language  of  Phoenicia  is 
not  found,  nor  is  there  any  other  language 
discovered,  and  for  a  proof  of  its  antiquity 
the  Tyrian  temple-sculpture  should  be  only 
hieroglyphical ;)  the  political  character  in 
the  formation  of  monarchies  and  republics, 
as  shown  at  Tyrus  and  Carthage,  Mexico  and 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.    131 

Toltecas ;  military  character  and  knowledge 
of  defensive  locality,  with  analogous  archi 
tecture  in  the  sea  and  river  walls  of  Tyrus 
and  Copan ;  the  last  event  in  the  history  of 
Tyrus  sculptured  upon  the  chief  altar  of  the 
most  ancient  ruin  (Copan),  and  from  the 
character  of  that  event  it  would  naturally  be 
come  the  first  subject  of  record  in  the  coun 
try  to  which  they  had  emigrated — every 
detail  of  that  altar  is  essentially  Tyrian ; 
painted  sculpture  and  the  stuccoing  of  the 
waljs  of  Tyrus  and  Palenque ;  the  architec 
ture,  as  to  its  square-columned  style,  identi 
fied  as  Tyrian,  and  proved  to  be  analogous 
from  the  temples  of  Jerusalem  and  Palenque 
and  from  the  square  pillars  of  Copan ;  while 
the  pyramidal  base  produced  the  compound 
term,  Egypto-Tyrian. 

"  These  absolute  analogies  have  fceen 
traced  from  Holy  Writ  (and  from  that 
source  others  are  to  follow),  histories  and 
traditions ;  from  sculpture,  coins,  and  archi 
tecture,  and  the  entire  range  of  the  arts; 


132    THE   COINCIDENCES  AND   RELATIONS   OF 

earth  and  ocean  have  rendered  their  records 
to  establish  that  the  same  knowledge  and 
customs  were  possessed  by  both  nations; 
nor  will  the  proof  of  identity  stop  there ; 
their  mutual  knowledge  was  also  found  in 
that  science  where  heaven  itself  was  and  is 
the  illuminated  map  of  study;  where  the 
stars  are  as  letters  of  fire  from  the  language 
of  the  skies — God  himself  being  the  Alpha 
and  the  Omega ! 

41  The  sublime  science  of  astronomy  claims 
both  Tyrus  and  Tyrian-America  for  «her 
children  and  pupils.  The  latter  viewed  and 
solved  the  problem  of  the  annual  course  of 
the  glorious  sun  (the  chief  worship)  with  as 
much  accuracy  (save  a  diurnal  fraction)  as 
the  later  and  more  accomplished  scholars 
and  disciples — Italy,  Germany,  and  Eng 
land. 

"We  submit  to  the  opinion  even  of  a 
sceptical  reader,  whether  he  does  not,  with 
the  foregoing  proofs,  believe  our  historical 
proposition,  viz. :  That  Tyrians  were  the  first 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE.  133 

inhabitants  of  ancient  America,  and  the  orig 
inal  builders  of  the  now  ruined  cities  and 
temples  ?" 

It  would  be  the  greatest  discovery  in  the 
history  of  mankind  to  find  idioms  which, 
with  certain  modifications,  are  used  both 
in  America  and  in  the  interior  of  Asia,  or 
in  which  at  least  an  old  affinity  could  be 
perceived.  Indeed,  such  a  discovery  would 
be  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 
Analogies  of  languages  deserve  only  to 
be  relied  upon  when  they  consist  not 
in  similarities  of  sound  of  the  radical 
words,  but  show  themselves  in  the  organic 
formation,  in  the  etymological  richness,  and 
especially  in  that  which  is  the  produc 
tion  of  the  intellectual  power  of  the  hu 
man  spirit,  i.  e.j  the  philosophy  of  the 
language.  Let  us  confidently  hope  and 
trust  that  this  philological  discovery  will 
ere  long  be  made.  For  although  sceptres 
break,  weapons  rust,  the  arms  of  heroes 
moulder,  and  even  whole  nations  disap- 


134  ANCIENT  AMERICAN  AND  ORIENTAL  CULTURE. 

pear  from  the  theatre  of  life,  that  intel 
lectual  power  with  which  our  great  Lord 
and  Maker  has  gifted  the  human  soul  is 
forever  new,  forever  progressing  and  cre 
ating. 


THE   END. 


